Italy vs Netherlands: Social spending as share of GDP
Italy
1.6%
in 2021
Netherlands
1.4%
in 2021
Italy rank
4th
Netherlands rank
5th
Social spending as share of GDP over time
- Italy
- Netherlands
How they compare
Italy currently reports 1.6% against 1.4% in Netherlands, a difference of 0.2%.
That makes Italy's figure about 1.1 times Netherlands's.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 42 shared years of data; in 1980 it was Netherlands ahead.
Italy ranks 4th and Netherlands ranks 5th of 42 countries.
Across the 5 decades both report, Italy averaged higher in 1 and Netherlands in 4.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Italy | Netherlands | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.0% | 1.1% | 1.1% | Netherlands |
| 1990s | 0.0% | 1.0% | 1.0% | Netherlands |
| 2000s | 0.1% | 1.2% | 1.1% | Netherlands |
| 2010s | 0.5% | 1.6% | 1.1% | Netherlands |
| 2020s | 1.5% | 1.5% | 0.0% | Italy |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher social spending as share of gdp, Italy or Netherlands?
- Italy, at 1.6% against 1.4% in Netherlands as of 2021.
- What is the difference in social spending as share of gdp between Italy and Netherlands?
- 0.2%, with Italy ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Italy and Netherlands?
- 42 years are reported by both, from 1980 to 2021.
- How do Italy and Netherlands rank globally for social spending as share of gdp?
- Italy ranks 4th and Netherlands ranks 5th 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.