Austria vs Sweden: Social spending as share of GDP
Austria
0.6%
in 2021
Sweden
0.5%
in 2021
Austria rank
17th
Sweden rank
18th
Social spending as share of GDP over time
- Austria
- Sweden
How they compare
Austria currently reports 0.6% against 0.5% in Sweden, a difference of 0.1%.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 34 shared years of data; in 1980 it was Sweden ahead.
Austria ranks 17th and Sweden ranks 18th of 42 countries.
Sweden has averaged higher in every one of the 5 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Austria | Sweden | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.2% | 0.5% | 0.3% | Sweden |
| 1990s | 0.4% | 0.8% | 0.4% | Sweden |
| 2000s | 0.3% | 0.6% | 0.3% | Sweden |
| 2010s | 0.5% | 0.8% | 0.3% | Sweden |
| 2020s | 0.5% | 0.6% | 0.0% | Sweden |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher social spending as share of gdp, Austria or Sweden?
- Austria, at 0.6% against 0.5% in Sweden as of 2021.
- What is the difference in social spending as share of gdp between Austria and Sweden?
- 0.1%, with Austria ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Austria and Sweden?
- 34 years are reported by both, from 1980 to 2021.
- How do Austria and Sweden rank globally for social spending as share of gdp?
- Austria ranks 17th and Sweden ranks 18th 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.