Public expenditure on disability and sickness cash benefits in % GDP in Denmark

Denmark: Public expenditure on disability and sickness cash benefits in % GDP was 4.74 Percentage of GDP in 2021. ▲ Rising

Latest (2021)
4.74 Percentage of GDP
Change on year
down 2.4%
World rank
1st
of 33 countries
All-time high
5.89 Percentage of GDP
in 2010
All-time low
3.09 Percentage of GDP
in 1984
Years of data
42
1980–2021

Public expenditure on disability and sickness cash benefits in % GDP in Denmark, 1980–2021

02461980200020211980: 4.1 Percentage of GDP1981: 3.8 Percentage of GDP1982: 3.6 Percentage of GDP1983: 3.3 Percentage of GDP1984: 3.1 Percentage of GDP1985: 3.2 Percentage of GDP1986: 3.3 Percentage of GDP1987: 3.3 Percentage of GDP1988: 3.6 Percentage of GDP1989: 3.3 Percentage of GDP1990: 3.7 Percentage of GDP1991: 3.6 Percentage of GDP1992: 3.6 Percentage of GDP1993: 3.9 Percentage of GDP1994: 3.8 Percentage of GDP1995: 4.1 Percentage of GDP1996: 4 Percentage of GDP1997: 3.9 Percentage of GDP1998: 4 Percentage of GDP1999: 4 Percentage of GDP2000: 3.8 Percentage of GDP2001: 4 Percentage of GDP2002: 4.2 Percentage of GDP2003: 4.4 Percentage of GDP2004: 4.4 Percentage of GDP2005: 4.4 Percentage of GDP2006: 4.4 Percentage of GDP2007: 5.3 Percentage of GDP2008: 5.4 Percentage of GDP2009: 5.8 Percentage of GDP2010: 5.9 Percentage of GDP2011: 5.8 Percentage of GDP2012: 5.8 Percentage of GDP2013: 5.6 Percentage of GDP2014: 5.4 Percentage of GDP2015: 5.2 Percentage of GDP2016: 5 Percentage of GDP2017: 4.9 Percentage of GDP2018: 4.6 Percentage of GDP2019: 4.6 Percentage of GDP2020: 4.9 Percentage of GDP2021: 4.7 Percentage of GDP

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Percentage of GDP.

Analysis

The most recent figure for public expenditure on disability and sickness cash benefits in % gdp in Denmark is 4.74 Percentage of GDP, measured in 2021.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 2.4% on the previous year and down 18.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, public expenditure on disability and sickness cash benefits in % gdp in Denmark peaked at 5.89 Percentage of GDP in 2010 and was at its lowest, 3.09 Percentage of GDP, in 1984.

Denmark ranks 1st of 33 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 42 years of available data.

Public expenditure on disability and sickness cash benefits in % GDP in Denmark, year by year

Annual values for Public expenditure on disability and sickness cash benefits in % GDP — Social expenditure in Denmark, 1980 to 2021.
Year Percentage of GDP Change
1980 4.11 Percentage of GDP
1981 3.76 Percentage of GDP -8.4%
1982 3.63 Percentage of GDP -3.6%
1983 3.29 Percentage of GDP -9.2%
1984 3.09 Percentage of GDP -6.1%
1985 3.18 Percentage of GDP +2.8%
1986 3.32 Percentage of GDP +4.5%
1987 3.3 Percentage of GDP -0.7%
1988 3.58 Percentage of GDP +8.6%
1989 3.35 Percentage of GDP -6.6%
1990 3.67 Percentage of GDP +9.7%
1991 3.61 Percentage of GDP -1.6%
1992 3.59 Percentage of GDP -0.7%
1993 3.85 Percentage of GDP +7.4%
1994 3.83 Percentage of GDP -0.5%
1995 4.12 Percentage of GDP +7.5%
1996 4.05 Percentage of GDP -1.7%
1997 3.9 Percentage of GDP -3.7%
1998 3.98 Percentage of GDP +2.2%
1999 4 Percentage of GDP +0.4%
2000 3.81 Percentage of GDP -4.7%
2001 3.98 Percentage of GDP +4.5%
2002 4.19 Percentage of GDP +5.2%
2003 4.38 Percentage of GDP +4.5%
2004 4.38 Percentage of GDP -0.0%
2005 4.42 Percentage of GDP +0.9%
2006 4.39 Percentage of GDP -0.7%
2007 5.35 Percentage of GDP +22.0%
2008 5.37 Percentage of GDP +0.4%
2009 5.84 Percentage of GDP +8.6%
2010 5.89 Percentage of GDP +0.9%
2011 5.82 Percentage of GDP -1.2%
2012 5.82 Percentage of GDP -0.0%
2013 5.57 Percentage of GDP -4.3%
2014 5.41 Percentage of GDP -2.9%
2015 5.22 Percentage of GDP -3.5%
2016 4.95 Percentage of GDP -5.2%
2017 4.86 Percentage of GDP -1.8%
2018 4.58 Percentage of GDP -5.8%
2019 4.65 Percentage of GDP +1.4%
2020 4.85 Percentage of GDP +4.5%
2021 4.74 Percentage of GDP -2.4%

Denmark compared with similar countries

  • Denmark's 4.74 Percentage of GDP is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 2.03 Percentage of GDP, 2.3× the median. (21 countries reporting)
  • Denmark's 4.74 Percentage of GDP is above the median for high income countries, which is 1.98 Percentage of GDP, 2.4× the median. (29 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1980s 3.46 Percentage of GDP 3.09 Percentage of GDP 4.11 Percentage of GDP 10
1990s 3.86 Percentage of GDP 3.59 Percentage of GDP 4.12 Percentage of GDP 10
2000s 4.61 Percentage of GDP 3.81 Percentage of GDP 5.84 Percentage of GDP 10
2010s 5.28 Percentage of GDP 4.58 Percentage of GDP 5.89 Percentage of GDP 10
2020s 4.79 Percentage of GDP 4.74 Percentage of GDP 4.85 Percentage of GDP 2

Countries ranked near Denmark

  1. 1 Latvia 2.84 Percentage of GDP compare
  2. 1 Croatia 3.1 Percentage of GDP compare
  3. 2 Netherlands 2.78 Percentage of GDP compare
  4. 2 Norway 4.04 Percentage of GDP compare
  5. 3 Belgium 3.38 Percentage of GDP compare
  6. 3 Estonia 2.42 Percentage of GDP compare
  7. 4 Iceland 3.36 Percentage of GDP compare
  8. 4 Slovenia 2.23 Percentage of GDP compare

See the full ranking of 43 places →

More economy & growth data for Denmark

All data for Denmark →

Frequently asked questions

What is public expenditure on disability and sickness cash benefits in % gdp in Denmark?
Public expenditure on disability and sickness cash benefits in % gdp in Denmark was 4.74 Percentage of GDP in 2021, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
What is the highest public expenditure on disability and sickness cash benefits in % gdp recorded in Denmark?
The highest recorded value was 5.89 Percentage of GDP in 2010.
What is the lowest public expenditure on disability and sickness cash benefits in % gdp recorded in Denmark?
The lowest recorded value was 3.09 Percentage of GDP in 1984.
How does Denmark rank for public expenditure on disability and sickness cash benefits in % gdp?
Denmark ranks 1st out of 33 countries with data for 2021.
Is public expenditure on disability and sickness cash benefits in % gdp rising or falling in Denmark?
Over the last ten years it is down 18.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Denmark data come from?
The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Public expenditure on disability and sickness cash benefits in % GDP — Social expenditure. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Public expenditure on disability and sickness cash benefits in % GDP in Denmark. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 14 September 2026, from https://economy.statizoid.com/stat/public-expenditure-on-disability-and-sickness-cash-benefits-in-percent-gdp-social/denmark/

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About this data

Indicator
Public expenditure on disability and sickness cash benefits in % GDP — Social expenditure
Unit
Percentage of GDP
Source
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Licence
OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage
43 places, 1,481 data points, 1980–2023
Last refreshed

The OECD Social Expenditure Database (SOCX) has been developed in order to serve a growing need for indicators of social policy. It includes reliable and internationally comparable statistics on public and mandatory and voluntary private social expenditure at programme level. SOCX provides a unique tool for monitoring trends in aggregate social expenditure and analysing changes in its composition. It covers 38 OECD countries and some accession countries for the period 1980-2021/23 and estimates for aggregates for 2022-24. A Social Expenditure Update can be found under www.oecd.org/en/data/datasets/social-expenditure-database-socx.htm. The main social policy areas are as follows: Old age, Survivors, Incapacity-related benefits, Health, Family, Active labor market programmes, Unemployment, Housing, and Other social policy areas. This version also includes estimates of net total social spending for 2021 for 38 OECD countries. SOCX aggregated data as well as sources and methodology are described in The OECD SOCX Manual – 2019 edition- A guide to the OECD Social Expenditure Database.