UK government spending compared with other countries

Name: UK government spending compared with other countries
Creator: International Monetary Fund

The UK's government spending was 43.5% of GDP in 2025, according to the IMF. That is the 22nd-highest of the 38 OECD countries ranked here. Finland had the highest (57.5% of GDP) and Costa Rica the lowest (17.8% of GDP). The simple average across the 38 was 42.9% of GDP, a difference of 0.5 percentage points from the UK's figure.

UK, 2025

43.5% of GDP

General government expenditure · IMF

UK rank

22 of 38

counting from the highest

OECD average

42.9% of GDP

simple average, including the UK

General government expenditure, ranked from highest to lowest. “=” marks a shared rank. International Monetary Fund.
Rank	Country	2025 (% of GDP)	2016
1	Finland UK v Finland	57.5%	55.1%
2	France UK v France	57.2%	57.4%
3	Austria UK v Austria	55.1%	50.6%
4	Belgium UK v Belgium	54.2%	53.4%
5	Italy UK v Italy	51.2%	49.0%
6	Poland UK v Poland	50.9%	41.1%
7	Germany UK v Germany	50.1%	44.6%
8=	Luxembourg UK v Luxembourg	49.1%	40.0%
8=	Slovenia UK v Slovenia	49.1%	46.9%
10	Sweden UK v Sweden	48.9%	49.5%
11	Norway UK v Norway	48.7%	48.8%
12	Greece UK v Greece	48.3%	50.3%
13	Slovakia UK v Slovakia	47.9%	40.9%
14	Hungary UK v Hungary	47.3%	46.7%
15	Denmark UK v Denmark	47.2%	52.4%
16	Iceland UK v Iceland	45.7%	45.8%
17	Latvia UK v Latvia	45.4%	37.4%
18	Spain UK v Spain	45.3%	42.1%
19	Netherlands UK v Netherlands	45.2%	43.9%
20	Estonia UK v Estonia	45.1%	38.9%
21	Canada UK v Canada	44.0%	40.8%
22	United Kingdom	43.5%	39.3%
23	Israel UK v Israel	43.2%	38.1%
24	Czechia UK v Czechia	43.1%	39.4%
25	Portugal UK v Portugal	42.7%	44.9%
26	New Zealand UK v New Zealand	41.5%	36.4%
27	Lithuania UK v Lithuania	41.2%	34.5%
28	Australia UK v Australia	39.6%	37.1%
29	United States UK v United States	37.6%	35.3%
30	Japan UK v Japan	37.0%	36.5%
31	South Korea UK v South Korea	35.9%	28.7%
32	Colombia UK v Colombia	33.2%	30.0%
33	Türkiye UK v Türkiye	32.3%	34.4%
34	Switzerland UK v Switzerland	31.8%	31.9%
35	Mexico UK v Mexico	29.8%	26.5%
36	Chile UK v Chile	26.2%	25.4%
37	Ireland UK v Ireland	22.3%	27.6%
38	Costa Rica UK v Costa Rica	17.8%	18.8%

The UK over ten years

━ UK · ╍ OECD average (simple average, including the UK). General government expenditure, International Monetary Fund.

Over 2016 to 2025, the UK's highest value was 49.1% of GDP (2020) and its lowest 38.1% of GDP (2019).

The UK's figure was higher than the average in six of the ten years from 2016 to 2025 and lower in four.

In 2016 the UK ranked 22nd of the 38 countries with a figure; in 2025 it ranked 22nd of 38.

Two countries had a lower figure than the UK in 2016 and a higher one in 2025: Latvia and Estonia.

Two countries had a higher figure than the UK in 2016 and a lower one in 2025: Czechia and Portugal.

The IMF's projection for the UK in 2026 is 43.5% of GDP.

How the IMF measures it

The IMF's general government expenditure is the total spending of central, regional and local government and social security funds in a calendar year, on the basis of the IMF's Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014: pay, purchases, interest, benefits, grants and investment. It is shown as a share of GDP. Spending by public corporations is not included.

IMF figures for recent years can include IMF staff estimates; the IMF revises them in each April and October edition.

Countries compared: The 38 member countries of the OECD. The table uses the latest year for which the UK and at least three-quarters of the countries the IMF covers have a figure, so every value is for the same period.

Why this differs from the UK's own figures

The UK's own headline measure of spending is total managed expenditure, which the ONS, HM Treasury and the Office for Budget Responsibility report for the public sector and for financial years running April to March. The IMF's figure covers general government only, so it leaves out public corporations, and it is for calendar years, so the two percentages of GDP differ.

Sources and receipts

Every value on this page was read from these addresses. The SHA-256 is the fingerprint of the file as downloaded, so a later change at the source can be detected.

https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/api/v1/G_X_G01_GDP_PT
International Monetary Fund, Fiscal Monitor database (IMF DataMapper) · read 2026-10-14 · SHA-256 a132615a21b360fa…
International Monetary Fund: Fiscal Monitor database (IMF DataMapper)
The publisher's page for this data, indicator G_X_G01_GDP_PT.

Common questions

Where does the UK rank for government spending in OECD countries?

Counting from the highest, the UK is 22nd of 38 with 43.5% of GDP in 2025, on IMF figures.

Which OECD country has the highest government spending?

Finland, at 57.5% of GDP in 2025 (International Monetary Fund).

Which OECD country has the lowest government spending?

Costa Rica, at 17.8% of GDP in 2025 (International Monetary Fund).

What is the OECD average government spending?

The simple average of the 38 countries with figures for 2025 is 42.9% of GDP. The UK's figure is 43.5% of GDP.

How has the UK's government spending changed since 2016?

It was 39.3% of GDP in 2016 and 43.5% of GDP in 2025, according to the IMF.

Is this the same as the UK's official figure?

More comparisons

Compare any two countries on GDP, inflation, unemployment, debt and life expectancy: country comparison tool.

These pages state each body's figures and the UK's position among them. They give no view on whether a figure is high or low. To report an error, send a correction request.