Social spending as share of GDP in Poland
Poland: Social spending as share of GDP was 0.1% in 2021. ▼ Falling
Social spending as share of GDP in Poland, 1990–2021
Source: OECD (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
The most recent figure for social spending as share of gdp in Poland is 0.1%, measured in 2021.
The figure is down 14.8% on the previous year and down 16.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, social spending as share of gdp in Poland peaked at 0.5% in 1993 and was at its lowest, 0.1%, in 2018.
Poland ranks 34th of 42 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 32 years of available data.
Social spending as share of GDP in Poland, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 0.1% | — |
| 1991 | 0.3% | +105.8% |
| 1992 | 0.3% | +12.2% |
| 1993 | 0.5% | +51.4% |
| 1994 | 0.4% | -24.3% |
| 1995 | 0.4% | +0.5% |
| 1996 | 0.4% | +5.9% |
| 1997 | 0.3% | -15.1% |
| 1998 | 0.3% | -6.6% |
| 1999 | 0.3% | -18.3% |
| 2000 | 0.1% | -55.5% |
| 2001 | 0.1% | +19.5% |
| 2002 | 0.2% | +18.5% |
| 2003 | 0.2% | +6.3% |
| 2004 | 0.2% | -8.8% |
| 2005 | 0.4% | +130.3% |
| 2006 | 0.2% | -35.3% |
| 2007 | 0.2% | -24.2% |
| 2008 | 0.2% | -6.9% |
| 2009 | 0.2% | -3.7% |
| 2010 | 0.2% | +29.9% |
| 2011 | 0.2% | -25.5% |
| 2012 | 0.1% | -12.5% |
| 2013 | 0.1% | +8.3% |
| 2014 | 0.1% | -6.2% |
| 2015 | 0.1% | -3.7% |
| 2016 | 0.1% | -5.4% |
| 2017 | 0.1% | -8.9% |
| 2018 | 0.1% | -9.8% |
| 2019 | 0.1% | +42.6% |
| 2020 | 0.1% | +3.5% |
| 2021 | 0.1% | -14.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.3% | 0.1% | 0.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Poland
More economy & growth data for Poland
- Exports of goods and services (current LCU), annual growth rate 2.03 % change on previous year (2025)
- Exports of goods and services (current LCU), per unit of GDP 1.88 current LCU per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Exports of goods and services (current LCU), per capita 53,384 current LCU per person (2025)
- Exports of goods and services (constant 2015 US$), annual growth rate 4.48 % change on previous year (2025)
- Exports of goods and services (constant 2015 US$), per unit of GDP 0.3855 constant 2015 US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Exports of goods and services (constant 2015 US$), per capita 10,955 constant 2015 US$ per person (2025)
- Gross fixed capital formation (current US$), annual growth rate 12.75 % change on previous year (2025)
- Gross fixed capital formation (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.1703 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Gross fixed capital formation (current US$), per capita 4,839 current US$ per person (2025)
- Gross fixed capital formation (current LCU), per unit of GDP 0.6404 current LCU per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is social spending as share of gdp in Poland?
- Social spending as share of gdp in Poland was 0.1% 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 Poland?
- The highest recorded value was 0.5% in 1993.
- What is the lowest social spending as share of gdp recorded in Poland?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.1% in 2018.
- How does Poland rank for social spending as share of gdp?
- Poland ranks 34th out of 42 countries with data for 2021.
- Is social spending as share of gdp rising or falling in Poland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 16.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Poland 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.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 32 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
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.