Spain’s public expenditure was the sixth highest in the OECD at 28% of GDP

The organization bringing together 38 countries reveals that Spain, Canada and the US recorded the highest increases due to pandemic aid in 2020

Public spending in the 38 countries that make up the OECD averaged 21% relative to GDP, below 22% in 2021 and 23% in 2020, both years impacted by higher spending to alleviate the crisis caused by the pandemic. In fact, data released by the organization this Thursday shows that more than 80% of the increase in the expenditure-to-GDP ratio in 2020 was due to the increase in spending, not the collapse in GDP as a result. of the pandemic.

The three countries that recorded the highest annual increases in government spending (more than six points) between 2019 and 2020 were Canada, Spain and the United States. The lowest increases (less than one point) occurred in Denmark, Hungary and Sweden.

In 2022, public spending will have returned to the main areas: pensions, the health system, public personnel… Last year, Spain was the sixth country in the entire OECD to spend the most on public services relative to its GDP. In total, 28.1% of GDP was allocated to these items. France and Italy top the list, both with more than 30% of their GDP, followed by Austria, Finland and Belgium.

The countries that invested the least percentage of GDP in government spending were Mexico (7.4%), Turkey (12.4%) and Ireland (12.8%).

The report indicates that across the OECD, the pension system is the largest public expenditure, averaging 7.7% of GDP, followed by the public health system (5.8%). The countries that spend the most on pensions relative to their GDP are Greece and Italy, and Chile the least.

Source: La Verdad

Ben

I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.