Belgium vs Japan: Social spending as share of GDP
Belgium
0.6%
in 2021
Japan
0.6%
in 2022
Belgium rank
14th
Japan rank
15th
Social spending as share of GDP over time
- Belgium
- Japan
How they compare
Belgium currently reports 0.6% against 0.6% in Japan, a difference of 0.0%.
Across all 42 years both countries report, Belgium has been ahead every year.
Belgium ranks 14th and Japan ranks 15th of 42 countries.
Belgium has averaged higher in every one of the 5 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Belgium | Japan | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.1% | Belgium |
| 1990s | 0.5% | 0.1% | 0.4% | Belgium |
| 2000s | 0.8% | 0.2% | 0.6% | Belgium |
| 2010s | 0.7% | 0.3% | 0.4% | Belgium |
| 2020s | 0.8% | 0.5% | 0.3% | Belgium |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher social spending as share of gdp, Belgium or Japan?
- Belgium, at 0.6% against 0.6% in Japan as of 2021.
- What is the difference in social spending as share of gdp between Belgium and Japan?
- 0.0%, with Belgium ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Belgium and Japan?
- 42 years are reported by both, from 1980 to 2021.
- How do Belgium and Japan rank globally for social spending as share of gdp?
- Belgium ranks 14th and Japan ranks 15th 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.