Spain vs Switzerland: Social spending as share of GDP
Spain
0.4%
in 2021
Switzerland
0.5%
in 2021
Spain rank
23rd
Switzerland rank
22nd
Social spending as share of GDP over time
- Spain
- Switzerland
How they compare
Switzerland currently reports 0.5% against 0.4% in Spain, a difference of 0.1%.
That makes Switzerland's figure about 1.1 times Spain's.
Across all 42 years both countries report, Switzerland has been ahead every year.
Spain ranks 23rd and Switzerland ranks 22nd of 42 countries.
Switzerland has averaged higher in every one of the 5 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Spain | Switzerland | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.0% | 0.9% | 0.8% | Switzerland |
| 1990s | 0.1% | 0.4% | 0.3% | Switzerland |
| 2000s | 0.2% | 0.5% | 0.3% | Switzerland |
| 2010s | 0.2% | 0.4% | 0.2% | Switzerland |
| 2020s | 0.3% | 0.5% | 0.1% | Switzerland |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher social spending as share of gdp, Spain or Switzerland?
- Switzerland, at 0.5% against 0.4% in Spain as of 2021.
- What is the difference in social spending as share of gdp between Spain and Switzerland?
- 0.1%, with Switzerland ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Spain and Switzerland?
- 42 years are reported by both, from 1980 to 2021.
- How do Spain and Switzerland rank globally for social spending as share of gdp?
- Spain ranks 23rd and Switzerland ranks 22nd 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.