Social spending as share of GDP in Austria
Austria: Social spending as share of GDP was 0.6% in 2021. ▲ Rising
Social spending as share of GDP in Austria, 1980–2021
Source: OECD (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Austria recorded 0.6% for social spending as share of gdp in 2021.
That represents a change of up 0.5% on the previous year and up 39.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, social spending as share of gdp in Austria peaked at 0.8% in 2016 and was at its lowest, 0.2%, in 1980.
Austria ranks 17th of 42 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.
Social spending as share of GDP in Austria, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 0.2% | — |
| 1985 | 0.2% | +19.9% |
| 1990 | 0.3% | +20.2% |
| 1991 | 0.3% | +5.4% |
| 1992 | 0.4% | +21.4% |
| 1993 | 0.4% | +6.3% |
| 1994 | 0.4% | -0.7% |
| 1995 | 0.4% | +5.7% |
| 1996 | 0.5% | +11.8% |
| 1997 | 0.4% | -5.3% |
| 1998 | 0.5% | +4.5% |
| 1999 | 0.6% | +17.3% |
| 2000 | 0.3% | -46.5% |
| 2001 | 0.3% | +10.2% |
| 2002 | 0.3% | +3.4% |
| 2003 | 0.3% | -0.9% |
| 2004 | 0.3% | +3.3% |
| 2005 | 0.4% | +3.5% |
| 2006 | 0.4% | +2.3% |
| 2007 | 0.4% | -0.6% |
| 2008 | 0.4% | +2.8% |
| 2009 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 0.4% | +3.5% |
| 2011 | 0.4% | +2.6% |
| 2012 | 0.4% | +6.9% |
| 2013 | 0.5% | +7.6% |
| 2014 | 0.5% | +3.8% |
| 2015 | 0.6% | +21.7% |
| 2016 | 0.8% | +33.4% |
| 2017 | 0.6% | -15.7% |
| 2018 | 0.5% | -15.9% |
| 2019 | 0.5% | -11.3% |
| 2020 | 0.5% | +14.2% |
| 2021 | 0.6% | +0.5% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 2 |
| 1990s | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.6% | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.6% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Austria
More economy & growth data for Austria
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 04 - Annual real GDP 0.801 Percent per annum (2029)
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 02 - Annual real GDP 0.9157 Percent per annum (2029)
- Gross capital formation (constant 2015 US$), annual growth rate 2.02 % change on previous year (2025)
- Gross capital formation (constant 2015 US$), per unit of GDP 0.1658 constant 2015 US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Gross capital formation (constant 2015 US$), per capita 10,431 constant 2015 US$ per person (2025)
- Imports of goods and services (current US$), annual growth rate 6.66 % change on previous year (2025)
- Imports of goods and services (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.5232 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Imports of goods and services (current US$), per capita 32,924 current US$ per person (2025)
- Imports of goods and services (current LCU), annual growth rate 2.17 % change on previous year (2025)
- Imports of goods and services (current LCU), per unit of GDP 0.463 current LCU per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is social spending as share of gdp in Austria?
- Social spending as share of gdp in Austria was 0.6% in 2021, according to OECD (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest social spending as share of gdp recorded in Austria?
- The highest recorded value was 0.8% in 2016.
- What is the lowest social spending as share of gdp recorded in Austria?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.2% in 1980.
- How does Austria rank for social spending as share of gdp?
- Austria ranks 17th out of 42 countries with data for 2021.
- Is social spending as share of gdp rising or falling in Austria?
- Over the last ten years it is up 39.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Austria data come from?
- The figures come from OECD (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Social spending as share of GDP. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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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.