Government Spending by Country (2020)
138 countries · % of GDP · Global avg: 28.1% · Source: World Bank
The Size of Government
Government expenditure as a share of GDP measures the size of the public sector. France and Nordic countries spend 50%+ of GDP through government, funding comprehensive welfare states. At the other extreme, some developing countries spend under 15%, reflecting limited fiscal capacity. The debate over optimal government size is unresolved — high-spending Denmark and low-spending Singapore are both highly competitive. What matters most is spending quality, not just quantity.
| # | Country | % of GDP |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Naoero | 103.6% |
| 2 | Kiribati | 83.7% |
| 3 | Ukraine | 65.6% |
| 4 | Marshall Islands | 59.4% |
| 5 | Palau | 59.0% |
| 6 | Timor-Leste | 52.5% |
| 7 | Greece | 47.3% |
| 8 | Italy | 47.3% |
| 9 | France | 47.3% |
| 10 | Austria | 46.0% |
| 11 | Finland | 44.9% |
| 12 | Slovenia | 42.9% |
| 13 | Hungary | 42.4% |
| 14 | Luxembourg | 42.2% |
| 15 | United Kingdom | 41.2% |
| 16 | San Marino | 40.5% |
| 17 | Lesotho | 40.2% |
| 18 | Netherlands | 40.0% |
| 19 | Slovak Republic | 39.8% |
| 20 | Belgium | 39.7% |
| 21 | Poland | 39.1% |
| 22 | Cyprus | 38.5% |
| 23 | Croatia | 38.1% |
| 24 | Estonia | 37.7% |
| 25 | Israel | 37.3% |
| 26 | Romania | 37.3% |
| 27 | Portugal | 37.2% |
| 28 | Uruguay | 36.5% |
| 29 | Namibia | 36.2% |
| 30 | Bulgaria | 35.8% |
| 31 | New Zealand | 35.5% |
| 32 | Serbia | 35.5% |
| 33 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 35.3% |
| 34 | Tonga | 34.7% |
| 35 | Norway | 34.5% |
| 36 | Moldova | 34.5% |
| 37 | Czechia | 34.4% |
| 38 | Latvia | 34.2% |
| 39 | Spain | 34.0% |
| 40 | Lithuania | 33.9% |
| 41 | Malta | 33.7% |
| 42 | South Africa | 33.4% |
| 43 | North Macedonia | 33.4% |
| 44 | Denmark | 33.3% |
| 45 | Colombia | 33.3% |
| 46 | Turkiye | 33.0% |
| 47 | Sweden | 32.5% |
| 48 | Brazil | 32.4% |
| 49 | Iceland | 32.0% |
| 50 | Mongolia | 31.7% |
Use this data in your own work
Every figure on this page is available as JSON or CSV from the same API the site runs on. Source, license and terms travel with the response, so attribution is not left to you to reconstruct.
Government Expense (% of GDP) · all countries · CSV
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