Netherlands vs New Zealand: Social spending as share of GDP
Netherlands
1.4%
in 2021
New Zealand
2.4%
in 2022
Netherlands rank
5th
New Zealand rank
2nd
Social spending as share of GDP over time
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
How they compare
New Zealand currently reports 2.4% against 1.4% in Netherlands, a difference of 1.0%.
That makes New Zealand's figure about 1.7 times Netherlands's.
The two have swapped places 7 times across 42 shared years of data; in 1980 it was Netherlands ahead.
Netherlands ranks 5th and New Zealand ranks 2nd of 42 countries.
Across the 5 decades both report, Netherlands averaged higher in 3 and New Zealand in 2.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Netherlands | New Zealand | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 1.1% | 0.6% | 0.5% | Netherlands |
| 1990s | 1.0% | 0.3% | 0.7% | Netherlands |
| 2000s | 1.2% | 1.1% | 0.1% | Netherlands |
| 2010s | 1.6% | 1.7% | 0.1% | New Zealand |
| 2020s | 1.5% | 2.1% | 0.7% | New Zealand |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher social spending as share of gdp, Netherlands or New Zealand?
- New Zealand, at 2.4% against 1.4% in Netherlands as of 2022.
- What is the difference in social spending as share of gdp between Netherlands and New Zealand?
- 1.0%, with New Zealand ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Netherlands and New Zealand?
- 42 years are reported by both, from 1980 to 2021.
- How do Netherlands and New Zealand rank globally for social spending as share of gdp?
- Netherlands ranks 5th 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.