Belgium vs Netherlands: Public expenditure on disability and sickness cash benefits in % GDP

Belgium
3.38 Percentage of GDP
in 2021
Netherlands
2.78 Percentage of GDP
in 2021
Belgium rank
3rd
Netherlands rank
2nd

Public expenditure on disability and sickness cash benefits in % GDP over time

  • Belgium
  • Netherlands
23456198020002021

How they compare

Belgium currently reports 3.38 Percentage of GDP against 2.78 Percentage of GDP in Netherlands, a difference of 0.6 Percentage of GDP.

That makes Belgium's figure about 1.2 times Netherlands's.

The two have swapped places 3 times across 42 shared years of data; in 1980 it was Netherlands ahead.

Belgium ranks 3rd and Netherlands ranks 2nd of 33 countries.

Across the 5 decades both report, Belgium averaged higher in 2 and Netherlands in 3.

Head to head by decade

Decade Belgium Netherlands Difference Ahead
1980s 3.46 Percentage of GDP 5.9 Percentage of GDP 2.44 Percentage of GDP Netherlands
1990s 2.83 Percentage of GDP 4.61 Percentage of GDP 1.78 Percentage of GDP Netherlands
2000s 2.17 Percentage of GDP 2.75 Percentage of GDP 0.5818 Percentage of GDP Netherlands
2010s 2.85 Percentage of GDP 2.77 Percentage of GDP 0.077 Percentage of GDP Belgium
2020s 3.43 Percentage of GDP 2.89 Percentage of GDP 0.5375 Percentage of GDP Belgium

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher public expenditure on disability and sickness cash benefits in % gdp, Belgium or Netherlands?
Belgium, at 3.38 Percentage of GDP against 2.78 Percentage of GDP in Netherlands as of 2021.
What is the difference in public expenditure on disability and sickness cash benefits in % gdp between Belgium and Netherlands?
0.6 Percentage of GDP, with Belgium ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Belgium and Netherlands?
42 years are reported by both, from 1980 to 2021.
How do Belgium and Netherlands rank globally for public expenditure on disability and sickness cash benefits in % gdp?
Belgium ranks 3rd and Netherlands ranks 2nd of 33 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as Public expenditure on disability and sickness cash benefits in % GDP — Social expenditure. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

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Belgium vs Netherlands: Public expenditure on disability and sickness cash benefits in % GDP. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 17 September 2026, from https://economy.statizoid.com/compare/public-expenditure-on-disability-and-sickness-cash-benefits-in-percent-gdp-social/belgium/netherlands-2/

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About this data

Indicator
Public expenditure on disability and sickness cash benefits in % GDP — Social expenditure
Unit
Percentage of GDP
Source
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Licence
OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage
43 places, 1,481 data points, 1980–2023
Last refreshed

The OECD Social Expenditure Database (SOCX) has been developed in order to serve a growing need for indicators of social policy. It includes reliable and internationally comparable statistics on public and mandatory and voluntary private social expenditure at programme level. SOCX provides a unique tool for monitoring trends in aggregate social expenditure and analysing changes in its composition. It covers 38 OECD countries and some accession countries for the period 1980-2021/23 and estimates for aggregates for 2022-24. A Social Expenditure Update can be found under www.oecd.org/en/data/datasets/social-expenditure-database-socx.htm. The main social policy areas are as follows: Old age, Survivors, Incapacity-related benefits, Health, Family, Active labor market programmes, Unemployment, Housing, and Other social policy areas. This version also includes estimates of net total social spending for 2021 for 38 OECD countries. SOCX aggregated data as well as sources and methodology are described in The OECD SOCX Manual – 2019 edition- A guide to the OECD Social Expenditure Database.