Public social spending as a share of GDP

This chart shows that in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, governments’ social spending amounted to very little. Countries spent, at most, 1 to 2% of their national income on public social services.

This changed significantly over the 20th century: public social spending in wealthy countries now amounts to between 15% and 30% of national income. The biggest reasons for this increase are higher expenditure on healthcare and education.

This data comes from the OECD and Peter Lindert’s history of social spending.

See data for additional countries in the data tab.