Wage bill as a percentage of GDP in Spain

Spain: Wage bill as a percentage of GDP was 11.6% in 2022. ▲ Rising

Latest (2022)
11.6%
Change on year
down 4.8%
World rank
37th
of 191 countries
All-time high
12.5%
in 2020
All-time low
9.7%
in 2002
Years of data
23
2000–2022

Wage bill as a percentage of GDP in Spain, 2000–2022

0510152000201120222000: 102001: 9.82002: 9.72003: 9.82004: 9.82005: 9.82006: 9.82007: 102008: 10.62009: 11.72010: 11.62011: 11.52012: 112013: 11.22014: 11.12015: 11.12016: 10.92017: 10.62018: 10.62019: 10.82020: 12.52021: 12.22022: 11.6

Source: World Bank.

Analysis

Spain recorded 11.6% for wage bill as a percentage of gdp in 2022.

The figure is down 4.8% on the previous year and up 5.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, wage bill as a percentage of gdp in Spain peaked at 12.5% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 9.7%, in 2002.

Spain ranks 37th of 191 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 23 years of available data.

Wage bill as a percentage of GDP in Spain, year by year

Annual values for Wage bill as a percentage of GDP in Spain, 2000 to 2022.
Year Value Change
2000 10.0% —
2001 9.8% -1.9%
2002 9.7% -1.0%
2003 9.8% +0.8%
2004 9.8% +0.1%
2005 9.8% -0.5%
2006 9.8% -0.2%
2007 10.0% +2.2%
2008 10.6% +6.6%
2009 11.7% +10.2%
2010 11.6% -1.0%
2011 11.5% -1.0%
2012 11.0% -4.1%
2013 11.2% +1.8%
2014 11.1% -0.7%
2015 11.1% -0.7%
2016 10.9% -1.4%
2017 10.6% -2.6%
2018 10.6% -0.2%
2019 10.8% +2.1%
2020 12.5% +15.6%
2021 12.2% -2.3%
2022 11.6% -4.8%

Spain compared with similar countries

  • Spain's 11.6% is above the median for high income countries, which is 10.0%, 1.2× the median. (64 countries reporting)
  • Spain's 11.6% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 10.0%, 1.2× the median. (50 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 10.1% 9.7% 11.7% 10
2010s 11.1% 10.6% 11.6% 10
2020s 12.1% 11.6% 12.5% 3

Countries ranked near Spain

  1. 34 Norway 12.0% compare
  2. 35 Solomon Islands 11.7% compare
  3. 36 Croatia 11.6% compare
  4. 38 San Marino 11.6% compare
  5. 39 Greece 11.6% compare
  6. 40 Slovenia 11.6% compare

See the full ranking of 191 places →

More reference data data for Spain

All data for Spain →

Frequently asked questions

What is wage bill as a percentage of gdp in Spain?
Wage bill as a percentage of gdp in Spain was 11.6% in 2022, according to the World Bank.
What is the highest wage bill as a percentage of gdp recorded in Spain?
The highest recorded value was 12.5% in 2020.
What is the lowest wage bill as a percentage of gdp recorded in Spain?
The lowest recorded value was 9.7% in 2002.
How does Spain rank for wage bill as a percentage of gdp?
Spain ranks 37th out of 191 countries with data for 2022.
Is wage bill as a percentage of gdp rising or falling in Spain?
Over the last ten years it is up 5.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Spain data come from?
The figures come from the World Bank, published as part of Wage bill as a percentage of GDP. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 23 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Wage bill as a percentage of GDP in Spain. Statizoid. Retrieved 29 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/wage-bill-as-a-percentage-of-gdp/spain/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/wage-bill-as-a-percentage-of-gdp/spain/">Wage bill as a percentage of GDP in Spain</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Wage bill as a percentage of GDP
Source
World Bank
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
191 places, 4,127 data points, 2000–2022
Last refreshed