Social spending as share of GDP in Croatia

Croatia: Social spending as share of GDP was 0.2% in 2021. ▲ Rising

Latest (2021)
0.2%
Change on year
up 3.2%
World rank
28th
of 42 countries
All-time high
0.3%
in 2016
All-time low
0.2%
in 2008
Years of data
14
2008–2021

Social spending as share of GDP in Croatia, 2008–2021

00.10.20.32008201420212008: 0.212 % of GDP2009: 0.234 % of GDP2010: 0.216 % of GDP2011: 0.212 % of GDP2012: 0.216 % of GDP2013: 0.223 % of GDP2014: 0.262 % of GDP2015: 0.259 % of GDP2016: 0.278 % of GDP2017: 0.257 % of GDP2018: 0.247 % of GDP2019: 0.228 % of GDP2020: 0.222 % of GDP2021: 0.229 % of GDP

Source: OECD (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.

Analysis

Croatia recorded 0.2% for social spending as share of gdp in 2021.

The figure is up 3.2% on the previous year and up 8.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, social spending as share of gdp in Croatia peaked at 0.3% in 2016 and was at its lowest, 0.2%, in 2008.

Croatia ranks 28th of 42 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 14 years of available data.

Social spending as share of GDP in Croatia, year by year

Annual values for Social spending as share of GDP in Croatia, 2008 to 2021.
Year % of GDP Change
2008 0.2%
2009 0.2% +10.4%
2010 0.2% -7.7%
2011 0.2% -1.9%
2012 0.2% +1.9%
2013 0.2% +3.2%
2014 0.3% +17.5%
2015 0.3% -1.1%
2016 0.3% +7.3%
2017 0.3% -7.6%
2018 0.2% -3.9%
2019 0.2% -7.7%
2020 0.2% -2.6%
2021 0.2% +3.2%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 2
2010s 0.2% 0.2% 0.3% 10
2020s 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 2

Countries ranked near Croatia

  1. 25 Colombia 0.4% compare
  2. 26 Bulgaria 0.3% compare
  3. 27 Lithuania 0.3% compare
  4. 29 Australia 0.2% compare
  5. 29 Portugal 0.2% compare
  6. 31 Germany 0.2% compare

See the full ranking of 42 places →

More economy & growth data for Croatia

All data for Croatia →

Frequently asked questions

What is social spending as share of gdp in Croatia?
Social spending as share of gdp in Croatia was 0.2% 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 Croatia?
The highest recorded value was 0.3% in 2016.
What is the lowest social spending as share of gdp recorded in Croatia?
The lowest recorded value was 0.2% in 2008.
How does Croatia rank for social spending as share of gdp?
Croatia ranks 28th out of 42 countries with data for 2021.
Is social spending as share of gdp rising or falling in Croatia?
Over the last ten years it is up 8.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Croatia 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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Social spending as share of GDP in Croatia. Statizoid, drawing on OECD (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 08 September 2026, from https://economy.statizoid.com/stat/social-expenditure-as-percentage-of-gdp/croatia/

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About this data

Indicator
Social spending as share of GDP
Unit
% of GDP
Source
OECD (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
42 places, 1,427 data points, 1980–2023
Last refreshed

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.