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Dataset · World Bank Group

General Government Consumption

56 years, 1970–2025 · 132 countries

General government consumption is what a government spends on goods and services — public sector wages, defence, and the running of public administration — measured as a share of the whole economy. It is the most widely available measure of how big a country’s state is in spending terms.

This site holds every year from 1970 to 2025, read from World Bank Group’s own data and stored exactly as published.

Open General Government Consumption, 2025Download all 56 · CSVSee it charted by country →
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General Government Consumption · the file

Newest
General Government Consumption, 2025
Held
56 years · 8,045 rows
Licence
CC BY 4.0

0156 years

Every year

Every year comes from World Bank Group’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method. Each opens the full table for that year; each downloads as a CSV.

1970bar height: countries covered, up to 1792025
Every year of General Government Consumption held on this site, newest first, with its download files.
YearCountriesChangeReadDownload
General Government Consumption, 2025Newest132−37September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 2024169−4September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 2023173−3September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 2022176±0September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 2021176−1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 2020177+1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 2019176−2September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 2018178−1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 2017179+2 −1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 2016178±0September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 2015178+3September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 2014175+1September 10, 2026CSV
Show all 56 years
YearCountriesChangeReadDownload
General Government Consumption, 2013174+2September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 2012172+1 −2September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 2011173+1 −1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 2010173+2 −1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 2009172+1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 2008171+2 −1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 2007170+2September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 2006168+2 −1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 2005167+4 −1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 2004164+1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 2003163+2September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 2002161+2September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 2001159+1 −1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 2000159+5September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 1999154±0September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 1998154+2September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 1997152±0September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 1996152−1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 1995153+8September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 1994145+2September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 1993143+4September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 1992139+3 −1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 1991137+3 −1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 1990135+12September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 1989123+4 −1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 1988120+1 −1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 1987120+3 −1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 1986118+1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 1985117−1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 1984118+1 −2September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 1983119+1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 1982118+3 −1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 1981116+3September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 1980113+11 −1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 1979103−1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 1978104±0September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 1977104+2September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 1976102+3September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 197599+3September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 197496+1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 197395+1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 197294±0September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 197194−1September 10, 2026CSV
General Government Consumption, 197095—September 10, 2026CSV

Every year in one file, one row per country per year: government-consumption-all-editions-nations-inquiry.csv

023 columns

What’s in the file

Every column, what it holds, how it is stored and what its values look like — what a reader needs before opening the file.

Every column in the newest file of General Government Consumption: what it holds, how it is stored, and its range.
ColumnWhat it holdsStored asRange, 2025DistinctEmptySpread
CountrycountryNameThe country’s name, as this file spells it.Text—1320
ISO Codecountry_codeIdentifierThe ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code, added by this site. Every table here joins on it.Text · 3 letters—1320
General government final consumption expenditure (% of GDP)government_consumptionHeadlineThe headline figure: General government final consumption expenditure (% of GDP).Number · up to 14 decimals5.4455Egypt38.9417Ukrainemiddle 16.20881320

Profiled from the newest file. Range: the lowest and highest value, with the country holding it when only one does. Spread: countries in ten equal steps from lowest to highest. Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score.

03188 countries across every year

Who is covered

How many countries each year holds, continent by continent, who joined and who left, and which places this site covers that the dataset never has.

All regions
Countries in each year of General Government Consumption, by continent.
201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Africa484949505050505050504944
Americas292929303029292828272618
Asia454646454544454545434228
Europe414242424242424242424140
Oceania12121212111111111111112
All175178178179178176177176176173169132

The newest 12 of 56 years.

Who joined and who left

  • 2025
    − Aruba− Afghanistan− Angola− Bahrain− Bahamas− Belize− Bermuda− Bolivia− Bhutan− China− Cuba− Fiji− Faroe Islands− Ghana− Iraq− Japan− Kazakhstan− Kiribati− Kuwait− Lebanon− Maldives− Marshall Islands− New Zealand− Oman− Panama− Palau− French Polynesia− Solomon Islands− Eswatini− Tajikistan− Turkmenistan− Timor-Leste− Tonga− United States− Vanuatu− Zambia− Zimbabwe
  • 2024
    − United Arab Emirates− Greenland− San Marino− Togo
  • 2023
    − Qatar− Syria− United States Virgin Islands
  • 2021
    − Cayman Islands
  • 2020
    + Afghanistan
  • 2019
    − Curaçao− Yemen
  • 2018
    − New Caledonia
  • 2017
    + Cayman Islands+ Malawi− Laos

Not in this dataset · 37 places this site covers

World Bank Group gives no figure for these in any year held here. It is the publisher’s choice of scope, and each place’s profile shows what is measured.

American SamoaAndorraAnguillaAntigua and BarbudaBarbadosBritish Virgin IslandsChannel IslandsCook IslandsDominicaGibraltarGrenadaGuamIsle of ManJamaicaLiberiaLiechtensteinMonacoMontserratMyanmarNauruNigeriaNiueNorth KoreaNorthern CyprusNorthern Mariana IslandsSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint MartinSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSint MaartenSomalilandSouth SudanTaiwanTrinidad and TobagoTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluVatican City

04Provenance

Where it comes from

The path from the publisher to this page, and what was checked and changed on the way.

The site’s method

  1. 1 · Publisher

    World Bank Group

    data.worldbank.org

  2. 2 · Their file

    General Government Consumption 2025

    NE.CON.GOVT.ZS

  3. 3 · Read by this site

    September 10, 2026

    Imported by a script that parses each figure and writes it down unrounded.

  4. 4 · Stored as

    56 files, one per year

    Each downloads as a CSV, or every year together as government-consumption-all-editions-nations-inquiry.csv

  5. 5 · Used on

    Its statistic page, and every profile it measures

    /statistics/government-consumption

Precision

The headline is stored to 14 decimals, as published.

Rounded by this site

Never. Tables on screen may show fewer decimals; the files never do.

Changed by this site

Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Published by the World Bank via its indicator API (NE.CON.GOVT.ZS), compiled from countries’ own national accounts. Years before 1970 report fewer than 80 countries and are not imported.

05Reuse

Licence and credit

What the publisher’s licence lets you do, what it asks of you, and a credit line and citation ready to copy.

Every publisher’s terms

Licence · checked September 10, 2026

CC BY 4.0

  • Share and redistribute it
  • Adapt it and build on it
  • Use it commercially
  • Credit the publisher
  • Say what you changed

Share, adapt and use commercially. Credit the publisher and say if you changed anything.

A credit line

Source: World Bank Group, General Government Consumption, via Nations Inquiry.

Cite this dataset

World Bank Group. General Government Consumption, 1970–2025 [data set]. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/government-consumption

The publisher’s own citation: World Bank. World Development Indicators. Washington, DC: World Bank Group.

Plain-language summary, not legal advice. The licence text is what binds.

06Questions

General Government Consumption: questions and answers

What is the General Government Consumption?

General government consumption is what a government spends on goods and services — public sector wages, defence, and the running of public administration — measured as a share of the whole economy. It is the most widely available measure of how big a country’s state is in spending terms.

Which years of the General Government Consumption can I download?

All 56, from 1970 to 2025, each as a CSV file, or every year together in one CSV.

Does World Bank Group rank countries on it?

No. World Bank Group publishes values only. The positions shown on this site are derived by ordering the published values, and are labelled as ours.

Can I use it commercially?

Yes, under CC BY 4.0, with credit to World Bank Group. The licence text is linked on this page.

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