Mexico vs United States of America: Social spending as share of GDP
Mexico
0.7%
in 2023
United States of America
0.8%
in 2023
Mexico rank
13th
United States of America rank
12th
Social spending as share of GDP over time
- Mexico
- United States of America
How they compare
United States of America currently reports 0.8% against 0.7% in Mexico, a difference of 0.1%.
That makes United States of America's figure about 1.1 times Mexico's.
The two have swapped places 6 times across 39 shared years of data; in 1985 it was United States of America ahead.
Mexico ranks 13th and United States of America ranks 12th of 42 countries.
United States of America has averaged higher in every one of the 5 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Mexico | United States of America | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.0% | 0.4% | 0.3% | United States of America |
| 1990s | 0.3% | 0.5% | 0.2% | United States of America |
| 2000s | 0.5% | 0.6% | 0.0% | United States of America |
| 2010s | 0.5% | 0.8% | 0.3% | United States of America |
| 2020s | 0.7% | 0.8% | 0.1% | United States of America |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher social spending as share of gdp, Mexico or United States of America?
- United States of America, at 0.8% against 0.7% in Mexico as of 2023.
- What is the difference in social spending as share of gdp between Mexico and United States of America?
- 0.1%, with United States of America ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Mexico and United States of America?
- 39 years are reported by both, from 1985 to 2023.
- How do Mexico and United States of America rank globally for social spending as share of gdp?
- Mexico ranks 13th 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.