Public spending

Everything spent in a year by the state, local authorities and social security, as a share of the wealth the country produces (GDP).

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World map: Public spending, 2024 — Map 2024. Source: FMI, Public Finances in Modern History (Mauro et al.).

In 2024, 134 countries have a value. Highest: Ukraine (71 %), Finland (58 %), France (57 %). Lowest: Haiti (5 %), Sudan (6 %), Yemen (9 %). World (GDP-weighted average): 35 %. France: 57 % (3rd of 134).

Country ranking in 2024

Rank	Country	Value
1	Ukraine its history →	71 %
2	Finland	58 %
3	France its history →	57 %
4	Austria	56 %
5	Belgium	55 %
6	Lesotho	54 %
7	Italy	51 %
8	Kuwait	50 %
9	Germany its history →	49 %
10	Poland	49 %
11	Sweden its history →	49 %
12	Norway	49 %
13	Greece	48 %
14	Croatia	48 %
15	Denmark	47 %
16	Slovakia	47 %
17	Luxembourg	47 %
18	Hungary its history →	47 %
19	Iceland	47 %
20	Slovenia	47 %
21	Brazil	46 %
22	Spain its history →	45 %
23	Canada	45 %
24	Latvia	45 %
25	Netherlands its history →	44 %
26	United Kingdom	44 %
27	Israel	44 %
28	Estonia	44 %
29	Bosnia & Herzegovina	43 %
30	Portugal its history →	43 %
31	Czechia	43 %
32	New Zealand	42 %
33	Vanuatu	41 %
34	Cyprus	40 %
35	Namibia	40 %
36	Romania	40 %
37	Bolivia	40 %
38	Japan	39 %
39	Australia its history →	39 %
40	Ecuador	38 %
41	Moldova	38 %
42	United States	38 %
43	Mongolia	38 %
44	Russia	37 %
45	Algeria	37 %
46	Bulgaria	37 %
47	North Macedonia	37 %
48	Solomon Islands	36 %
49	Colombia	35 %
50	Azerbaijan	34 %
51	Tunisia	34 %
52	Kyrgyzstan	34 %
53	Senegal	34 %
54	Mozambique	33 %
55	South Africa	33 %
56	Jordan	33 %
57	Morocco	33 %
58	China	33 %
59	Eswatini	33 %
60	Türkiye	33 %
61	Trinidad & Tobago	33 %
62	Switzerland its history →	32 %
63	El Salvador	31 %
64	Uruguay	31 %
65	Argentina its history →	31 %
66	Fiji	31 %
67	Mexico	30 %
68	Georgia	30 %
69	Jamaica	30 %
70	Saudi Arabia	30 %
71	Suriname	29 %
72	Albania	29 %
73	Rwanda	29 %
74	Oman	29 %
75	India its history →	28 %
76	Burkina Faso	28 %
77	Tajikistan	28 %
78	Uzbekistan	28 %
79	Nicaragua	27 %
80	Bhutan	27 %
81	Chile	27 %
82	Togo	26 %
83	Belize	26 %
84	Qatar	26 %
85	Honduras	26 %
86	Philippines	25 %
87	Gabon	25 %
88	Malaysia	24 %
89	Kenya	23 %
90	Guyana	23 %
91	Ghana	23 %
92	Panama	23 %
93	Thailand	23 %
94	South Korea	23 %
95	Ireland	22 %
96	Peru	22 %
97	Burundi	22 %
98	Congo - Brazzaville	22 %
99	United Arab Emirates	21 %
100	Paraguay	21 %
101	Bahamas	21 %
102	Myanmar (Burma)	21 %
103	Djibouti	21 %
104	Guinea	21 %
105	Guinea-Bissau	20 %
106	Côte d’Ivoire	20 %
107	Papua New Guinea	20 %
108	Dominican Republic	20 %
109	Pakistan	20 %
110	Central African Republic	20 %
111	Sri Lanka	19 %
112	Vietnam	19 %
113	Tanzania	19 %
114	Costa Rica	19 %
115	Chad	19 %
116	Uganda	19 %
117	Equatorial Guinea	19 %
118	Angola	18 %
119	Benin	18 %
120	Venezuela	18 %
121	Cambodia	17 %
122	Indonesia	17 %
123	Congo - Kinshasa	17 %
124	Lebanon	17 %
125	Madagascar	16 %
126	Iran	14 %
127	Guatemala	13 %
128	Niger	13 %
129	Nigeria	12 %
130	Bangladesh	12 %
131	Ethiopia	10 %
132	Yemen	9 %
133	Sudan	6 %
134	Haiti	5 %

44 countries or territories have no value that year.

Continent averages

World (GDP-weighted average)	35 %
Europe (average)	45 %
Africa (average)	23 %
Americas (average)	37 %
Asia (average)	29 %
Oceania (average)	39 %

Understanding this map

What this figure measures

It adds up all public spending: civil servants' pay, pensions and benefits, health, education, the military, roads, interest on debt. When it exceeds 50%, it does not mean the state “consumes” half of the wealth: much of it is passed on to households (pensions, benefits), who then spend it themselves.

The great growth of the state

Before 1914 the states of rich countries spent around 10% of GDP (France 10 to 13%, the UK 6 to 8%), mostly on the military, police, justice and debt. Wars make spending leap (UK: 68% in 1916, 63% in 1944), and it never quite falls back to the old level. Then the welfare state (pensions, health, education, unemployment insurance) takes it to 40-60% of GDP: France is at 57% in 2024, among the highest in the world.

Limits

The IMF database uses general government when the figure exists, otherwise central government only. For several rich countries the series changes scope between 1960 and 1993, creating a false jump: in France, 21% in 1977 (central government) then 45% in 1978 (general government). The curve is broken at that point and the tooltip says so. Before 1950 few countries are covered; the world average (GDP-weighted) only appears from 1929.

Sources : FMI, Public Finances in Modern History (Mauro et al.)

In the same theme : Public finances

Taxes Total revenue Top tax rate Total Military Education Health Social protection Research Deficit / surplus Rate − growth (r − g)% of GDP per person in years of taxes held abroad interest interest / taxes borrowing rate

All maps

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Page updated on 2026-11-03.