Table 16. Social expenditures as a per cent of GDP in OECD countries 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 United States 12.8 12.9 13.4 13.6 12.6 12.5 12.7 12.6 12.5 12.6 13.0 14.1 14.7 14.9 14.9 15.0 14.9 14.5 Japan 10.6 11.0 11.4 11.7 11.5 11.5 11.9 12.1 11.8 11.7 11.5 11.5 12.0 12.6 13.2 14.1 14.1 14.3 Germany 22.7 23.5 23.7 23.2 22.9 23.6 23.5 23.8 23.8 22.9 22.2 24.3 25.8 26.3 26.2 26.6 26.7 26.2 France 22.9 24.6 25.5 26.0 26.3 26.6 26.4 26.2 26.0 25.2 26.5 27.0 27.8 29.2 29.2 29.3 29.3 29.4 Italy 18.3 19.8 20.3 21.4 20.9 21.3 21.3 21.5 21.6 21.8 23.8 25.7 26.8 27.1 26.8 25.8 26.0 26.4 United Kingdom 19.0 20.5 20.9 21.5 21.8 21.7 22.0 21.3 19.9 19.3 19.6 21.1 23.3 24.0 23.3 23.0 22.6 21.4 Canada 13.6 13.9 16.4 16.6 16.3 16.6 16.7 16.5 16.2 16.4 17.6 19.5 20.2 20.2 19.1 18.1 17.3 16.6 Australia 1 12.0 12.1 12.7 13.9 13.9 14.0 14.1 14.0 13.2 13.3 14.5 15.7 16.8 16.9 16.6 18.3 18.3 17.9 Austria 22.2 .. .. .. .. 23.8 .. .. .. .. 23.6 23.8 24.4 25.9 26.5 26.3 26.2 25.3 Belgium 24.3 25.9 26.6 26.9 26.2 27.1 26.9 26.6 26.2 25.2 25.5 26.3 26.3 27.5 26.9 27.0 27.5 23.5 Czech Republic .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 16.8 17.3 18.7 19.0 18.6 18.5 19.4 Denmark 29.4 29.8 30.0 30.4 28.9 28.1 27.2 27.9 29.1 29.4 28.5 29.5 30.0 31.6 32.4 31.8 31.7 30.8 Finland 18.5 19.0 20.3 20.9 21.8 22.8 23.4 23.8 23.3 23.1 24.8 29.9 33.9 34.0 33.1 31.2 31.0 28.7 Greece 11.4 13.3 15.6 16.2 16.7 17.5 17.3 17.6 17.3 18.1 21.7 21.0 20.7 21.1 21.1 21.3 21.9 22.0 Iceland .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 18.2 18.6 18.2 17.8 Ireland 17.0 17.1 17.8 17.9 17.3 22.1 22.3 21.5 20.1 18.4 18.7 19.5 19.9 19.9 20.0 19.3 18.5 17.6 Korea .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 3.6 3.5 3.7 3.8 3.8 4.0 4.3 4.8 Luxembourg 23.3 25.0 24.2 24.4 23.0 22.8 22.3 23.1 22.2 21.5 21.7 22.3 22.6 23.2 22.6 23.4 23.6 22.4 Mexico 2 .. .. .. .. .. 1.8 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.8 3.3 3.7 4.0 4.2 4.7 7.3 7.4 7.9 Netherlands 27.4 28.4 30.0 30.2 29.0 27.5 27.2 27.3 26.9 26.5 28.0 28.1 28.6 28.8 26.9 26.0 25.3 24.2 New Zealand 20.0 18.8 19.4 19.7 18.6 19.5 20.4 20.6 21.1 22.2 22.4 22.7 22.7 21.5 20.2 19.5 19.7 20.9 Norway 18.5 .. .. .. .. 19.7 .. .. 24.9 25.9 26.0 27.2 28.4 28.1 28.0 27.6 26.2 25.1 Poland .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 16.2 23.1 27.4 26.7 25.6 25.1 25.2 24.5 Portugal 11.1 12.0 11.2 11.3 11.2 11.4 12.2 12.5 12.9 12.4 14.1 15.1 15.8 17.3 17.3 17.8 18.3 18.7 Spain 15.7 16.9 16.8 17.5 17.2 18.0 17.8 17.6 18.2 18.4 19.1 19.9 20.7 21.7 21.3 20.6 20.6 19.9 Sweden 28.8 29.7 29.9 30.2 29.0 30.0 30.1 30.3 30.9 30.3 31.1 33.1 36.2 36.7 35.3 33.0 32.5 31.9 Switzerland 14.8 14.5 15.5 15.9 16.1 15.9 16.1 16.3 16.4 16.1 16.3 17.4 18.9 20.4 20.6 20.9 21.7 22.4 Turkey 5.3 4.7 4.8 5.1 4.7 4.4 4.6 4.9 5.4 6.4 7.6 8.1 8.6 8.6 8.0 7.7 6.7 6.5 1. Prior to 1995, data on “superannuation pensions” and “superannuation lump sum” are not available. 2. Prior to 1995, social expenditure were underestimated, particularly with regard to old age cash benefits. Sources: OECD Social Expenditure Database, OECD Economic Outlook no. 67 (June 2000).