Denmark vs United States: Public expenditure on old-age and survivors cash benefits in % GDP

Denmark
7.51 Percentage of GDP
in 2021
United States
7.31 Percentage of GDP
in 2023
Denmark rank
18th
United States rank
19th

Public expenditure on old-age and survivors cash benefits in % GDP over time

  • Denmark
  • United States
02468198020012023

How they compare

Denmark currently reports 7.51 Percentage of GDP against 7.31 Percentage of GDP in United States, a difference of 0.2 Percentage of GDP.

The two have swapped places 1 time across 42 shared years of data; in 1980 it was United States ahead.

Denmark ranks 18th and United States ranks 19th of 33 countries.

Across the 5 decades both report, Denmark averaged higher in 4 and United States in 1.

Head to head by decade

Decade Denmark United States Difference Ahead
1980s 5.66 Percentage of GDP 6.12 Percentage of GDP 0.465 Percentage of GDP United States
1990s 6.67 Percentage of GDP 5.96 Percentage of GDP 0.7091 Percentage of GDP Denmark
2000s 6.41 Percentage of GDP 5.86 Percentage of GDP 0.5501 Percentage of GDP Denmark
2010s 7.81 Percentage of GDP 6.9 Percentage of GDP 0.9154 Percentage of GDP Denmark
2020s 7.86 Percentage of GDP 7.25 Percentage of GDP 0.6035 Percentage of GDP Denmark

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher public expenditure on old-age and survivors cash benefits in % gdp, Denmark or United States?
Denmark, at 7.51 Percentage of GDP against 7.31 Percentage of GDP in United States as of 2021.
What is the difference in public expenditure on old-age and survivors cash benefits in % gdp between Denmark and United States?
0.2 Percentage of GDP, with Denmark ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Denmark and United States?
42 years are reported by both, from 1980 to 2021.
How do Denmark and United States rank globally for public expenditure on old-age and survivors cash benefits in % gdp?
Denmark ranks 18th and United States ranks 19th of 33 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as Public expenditure on old-age and survivors 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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Denmark vs United States: Public expenditure on old-age and survivors cash benefits in % GDP. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 18 September 2026, from https://economy.statizoid.com/compare/public-expenditure-on-old-age-and-survivors-cash-benefits-in-percent-gdp-social/denmark/united-states/

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About this data

Indicator
Public expenditure on old-age and survivors 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.