Canada vs New Zealand: Social spending as share of GDP
Canada
2.4%
in 2022
New Zealand
2.4%
in 2022
Canada rank
1st
New Zealand rank
2nd
Social spending as share of GDP over time
- Canada
- New Zealand
How they compare
Canada currently reports 2.4% against 2.4% in New Zealand, a difference of 0.0%.
The two have swapped places 4 times across 43 shared years of data; in 1980 it was Canada ahead.
Canada ranks 1st and New Zealand ranks 2nd of 42 countries.
Canada has averaged higher in every one of the 5 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Canada | New Zealand | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 2.1% | 0.6% | 1.6% | Canada |
| 1990s | 3.1% | 0.3% | 2.8% | Canada |
| 2000s | 2.4% | 1.1% | 1.3% | Canada |
| 2010s | 2.2% | 1.7% | 0.5% | Canada |
| 2020s | 2.4% | 2.2% | 0.3% | Canada |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher social spending as share of gdp, Canada or New Zealand?
- Canada, at 2.4% against 2.4% in New Zealand as of 2022.
- What is the difference in social spending as share of gdp between Canada and New Zealand?
- 0.0%, with Canada ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Canada and New Zealand?
- 43 years are reported by both, from 1980 to 2022.
- How do Canada and New Zealand rank globally for social spending as share of gdp?
- Canada ranks 1st and New Zealand ranks 2nd 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.