Social spending as share of GDP in Switzerland
Switzerland: Social spending as share of GDP was 0.5% in 2021. ▼ Falling
Social spending as share of GDP in Switzerland, 1980–2021
Source: OECD (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Switzerland recorded 0.5% for social spending as share of gdp in 2021.
That represents a change of down 5.6% on the previous year and up 21.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, social spending as share of gdp in Switzerland peaked at 0.9% in 1988 and was at its lowest, 0.2%, in 1990.
Switzerland ranks 22nd of 42 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 42 years of available data.
Social spending as share of GDP in Switzerland, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 0.8% | — |
| 1981 | 0.8% | +3.9% |
| 1982 | 0.8% | +2.3% |
| 1983 | 0.9% | +8.3% |
| 1984 | 0.9% | -2.5% |
| 1985 | 0.9% | +1.4% |
| 1986 | 0.9% | -0.2% |
| 1987 | 0.9% | +0.3% |
| 1988 | 0.9% | +6.8% |
| 1989 | 0.9% | -1.2% |
| 1990 | 0.2% | -74.0% |
| 1991 | 0.3% | +29.4% |
| 1992 | 0.3% | +1.0% |
| 1993 | 0.3% | +10.3% |
| 1994 | 0.4% | +4.1% |
| 1995 | 0.4% | +6.4% |
| 1996 | 0.4% | +8.4% |
| 1997 | 0.4% | +9.0% |
| 1998 | 0.5% | +6.0% |
| 1999 | 0.6% | +18.3% |
| 2000 | 0.5% | -3.6% |
| 2001 | 0.4% | -18.6% |
| 2002 | 0.5% | +3.6% |
| 2003 | 0.5% | +3.3% |
| 2004 | 0.5% | +5.9% |
| 2005 | 0.5% | -2.8% |
| 2006 | 0.5% | -1.8% |
| 2007 | 0.4% | -7.3% |
| 2008 | 0.3% | -25.5% |
| 2009 | 0.4% | +10.3% |
| 2010 | 0.4% | -1.9% |
| 2011 | 0.4% | +4.5% |
| 2012 | 0.4% | +8.6% |
| 2013 | 0.4% | +3.5% |
| 2014 | 0.4% | +1.4% |
| 2015 | 0.4% | +5.6% |
| 2016 | 0.5% | +6.9% |
| 2017 | 0.5% | +0.2% |
| 2018 | 0.5% | -4.0% |
| 2019 | 0.5% | -0.2% |
| 2020 | 0.5% | +4.1% |
| 2021 | 0.5% | -5.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.9% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.4% | 0.2% | 0.6% | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.5% | 0.3% | 0.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Switzerland
More economy & growth data for Switzerland
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 04 - Annual real GDP 0.6894 Percent per annum (2029)
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 02 - Annual real GDP 1.2 Percent per annum (2029)
- Final consumption expenditure (constant 2015 US$), per capita 56,396 constant 2015 US$ per person (2025)
- Gross national expenditure (current US$), annual growth rate 11.39 % change on previous year (2025)
- Gross national expenditure (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.9106 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Gross national expenditure (current US$), per capita 104,505 current US$ per person (2025)
- Gross national expenditure (current LCU), annual growth rate 5.18 % change on previous year (2025)
- Gross national expenditure (current LCU), per unit of GDP 0.757 current LCU per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Gross national expenditure (current LCU), per capita 86,880 current LCU per person (2025)
- Gross national expenditure (constant 2015 US$), annual growth rate 4.04 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is social spending as share of gdp in Switzerland?
- Social spending as share of gdp in Switzerland was 0.5% 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 Switzerland?
- The highest recorded value was 0.9% in 1988.
- What is the lowest social spending as share of gdp recorded in Switzerland?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.2% in 1990.
- How does Switzerland rank for social spending as share of gdp?
- Switzerland ranks 22nd out of 42 countries with data for 2021.
- Is social spending as share of gdp rising or falling in Switzerland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 21.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Switzerland 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 — 42 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.