Iceland vs United States of America: Social spending as share of GDP
Iceland
1.0%
in 2021
United States of America
0.8%
in 2023
Iceland rank
9th
United States of America rank
12th
Social spending as share of GDP over time
- Iceland
- United States of America
How they compare
Iceland currently reports 1.0% against 0.8% in United States of America, a difference of 0.2%.
That makes Iceland's figure about 1.2 times United States of America's.
The two have swapped places 8 times across 32 shared years of data; in 1990 it was Iceland ahead.
Iceland ranks 9th and United States of America ranks 12th of 42 countries.
Across the 4 decades both report, Iceland averaged higher in 1 and United States of America in 3.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Iceland | United States of America | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.1% | United States of America |
| 2000s | 0.5% | 0.6% | 0.1% | United States of America |
| 2010s | 0.7% | 0.8% | 0.1% | United States of America |
| 2020s | 0.9% | 0.8% | 0.1% | Iceland |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher social spending as share of gdp, Iceland or United States of America?
- Iceland, at 1.0% against 0.8% in United States of America as of 2021.
- What is the difference in social spending as share of gdp between Iceland and United States of America?
- 0.2%, with Iceland ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Iceland and United States of America?
- 32 years are reported by both, from 1990 to 2021.
- How do Iceland and United States of America rank globally for social spending as share of gdp?
- Iceland ranks 9th and United States of America ranks 12th 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.