Australia vs Germany: Social spending as share of GDP
Australia
0.2%
in 2022
Germany
0.2%
in 2021
Australia rank
29th
Germany rank
31st
Social spending as share of GDP over time
- Australia
- Germany
How they compare
Australia currently reports 0.2% against 0.2% in Germany, a difference of 0.0%.
That makes Australia's figure about 1.2 times Germany's.
The two have swapped places 11 times across 42 shared years of data; in 1980 it was Germany ahead.
Australia ranks 29th and Germany ranks 31st of 42 countries.
Across the 5 decades both report, Australia averaged higher in 4 and Germany in 1.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Australia | Germany | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.2% | 0.4% | 0.2% | Germany |
| 1990s | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.1% | Australia |
| 2000s | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.0% | Australia |
| 2010s | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.1% | Australia |
| 2020s | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.1% | Australia |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher social spending as share of gdp, Australia or Germany?
- Australia, at 0.2% against 0.2% in Germany as of 2022.
- What is the difference in social spending as share of gdp between Australia and Germany?
- 0.0%, with Australia ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Australia and Germany?
- 42 years are reported by both, from 1980 to 2021.
- How do Australia and Germany rank globally for social spending as share of gdp?
- Australia ranks 29th and Germany ranks 31st of 42 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- OECD (2025) β with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as Social spending as share of GDP. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Public social expenditure divided by gross domestic product, expressed as a percentage. Includes both in-cash and in-kind benefits in other social policy programs.