Independent rankings built from public data — every figure traceable to the body that published it.
Report year 1981Data year 1981
General government final consumption expenditure (% of GDP)Neither end is better — this is a shape, not a scorePublished by World Bank Group
56 reference years (1970–2025), covering 94 to 179 countries, as published by the World Bank via its indicator API (NE.CON.GOVT.ZS). What government spends on goods and services — wages, defence, the day-to-day running of public administration — as a share of GDP. ⚠ A STRUCTURAL SHARE, NOT A SCORE: it measures the size of the state in spending terms, and neither a large nor a small one is a finding. ⚠ IT IS NOT TOTAL PUBLIC SPENDING. Investment and transfers — pensions, benefits, subsidies — are excluded, so a generous welfare state can look small here. ⚠ Years before 1970 report fewer than 80 countries and are not imported. ⚠ No rank is published, so none is stored or derived.
General Government Consumption 1981 — World Bank Group
Cite as: World Bank. World Development Indicators. Washington, DC: World Bank Group.
Licence: CC BY 4.0
What government spends on goods and services — wages, defence, the running of public administration — as a share of GDP, as published by the World Bank via its indicator API (NE.CON.GOVT.ZS). ⚠ A structural share, not a score: it measures the SIZE of the state in spending terms, and neither a large nor a small one is a finding. It also excludes investment and transfers such as pensions, so it is smaller than total public spending. No rank is published, so none is stored or derived.
116 rows × 3 columns · imported from the publisher’s published data file on
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| Country | ISO Code | General government final consumption expenditure (% of GDP) |
|---|---|---|
| Gambia, The | GMB | 45.959 |
| Mauritania | MRT | 44.486 |
| Israel | ISR | 37.578 |
| Cuba | CUB | 31.675 |
| Jordan | JOR | 31.506 |
| Seychelles | SYC | 31.133 |
| New Caledonia | NCL | 30.697 |
| Iraq | IRQ | 30.371 |
| Guyana | GUY | 29.054 |
| Guinea-Bissau | GNB | 28.487 |
| Sweden | SWE | 27.545 |
| Denmark | DNK | 27.129 |
| Papua New Guinea | PNG | 27.028 |
| Qatar | QAT | 25.795 |
| Mongolia | MNG | 24.873 |
| Botswana | BWA | 24.808 |
| Oman | OMN | 24.596 |
| Belgium | BEL | 24.103 |
| Netherlands | NLD | 22.948 |
| France | FRA | 22.140 |
| Ireland | IRL | 22.139 |
| Somalia, Fed. Rep. | SOM | 22.053 |
| Nicaragua | NIC | 21.938 |
| United Kingdom | GBR | 21.707 |
| Germany | DEU | 21.583 |
| Senegal | SEN | 21.485 |
| Iran, Islamic Rep. | IRN | 21.451 |
| Canada | CAN | 21.402 |
| Lesotho | LSO | 20.900 |
| Syrian Arab Republic | SYR | 20.761 |
| Namibia | NAM | 20.727 |
| Rwanda | RWA | 20.451 |
| Vanuatu | VUT | 20.440 |
| Bhutan | BTN | 20.268 |
| Saudi Arabia | SAU | 19.549 |
| Iceland | ISL | 19.447 |
| Madagascar | MDG | 19.418 |
| New Zealand | NZL | 19.190 |
| Norway | NOR | 18.647 |
| Kenya | KEN | 18.589 |
| Mali | MLI | 18.407 |
| Finland | FIN | 18.349 |
| Austria | AUT | 18.262 |
| Morocco | MAR | 18.225 |
| Malaysia | MYS | 18.095 |
| Italy | ITA | 17.920 |
| Australia | AUS | 17.784 |
| Cote d'Ivoire | CIV | 17.614 |
| Luxembourg | LUX | 17.587 |
| Greece | GRC | 17.419 |
| Egypt, Arab Rep. | EGY | 17.339 |
| Fiji | FJI | 16.392 |
| Panama | PAN | 16.247 |
| Zimbabwe | ZWE | 16.194 |
| Malta | MLT | 15.953 |
| Ecuador | ECU | 15.873 |
| El Salvador | SLV | 15.829 |
| United States | USA | 15.810 |
| Costa Rica | CRI | 15.737 |
| Puerto Rico (US) | PRI | 15.700 |
| Algeria | DZA | 15.099 |
| Togo | TGO | 15.000 |
| Central African Republic | CAF | 14.989 |
| Tunisia | TUN | 14.793 |
| Bulgaria | BGR | 14.738 |
| Cyprus | CYP | 14.612 |
| Spain | ESP | 14.509 |
| Venezuela, RB | VEN | 14.454 |
| Uruguay | URY | 14.443 |
| Gabon | GAB | 14.245 |
| Kuwait | KWT | 14.217 |
| Japan | JPN | 14.064 |
| Tonga | TON | 14.024 |
| Bahamas, The | BHS | 13.831 |
| Mauritius | MUS | 13.744 |
| Honduras | HND | 13.443 |
| Congo, Rep. | COG | 13.439 |
| China | CHN | 13.338 |
| Bolivia | BOL | 13.291 |
| South Africa | ZAF | 13.273 |
| Peru | PER | 13.126 |
| Portugal | PRT | 13.095 |
| Sudan | SDN | 12.979 |
| Thailand | THA | 12.758 |
| Chile | CHL | 12.736 |
| Bahrain | BHR | 12.721 |
| Belize | BLZ | 12.409 |
| Georgia | GEO | 12.197 |
| Korea, Rep. | KOR | 11.734 |
| Comoros | COM | 11.045 |
| Niger | NER | 10.934 |
| Indonesia | IDN | 10.713 |
| Colombia | COL | 10.434 |
| Mexico | MEX | 10.201 |
| Pakistan | PAK | 10.164 |
| Turkiye | TUR | 9.841 |
| Switzerland | CHE | 9.665 |
| India | IND | 9.626 |
| Brazil | BRA | 9.519 |
| Singapore | SGP | 9.389 |
| Burkina Faso | BFA | 9.254 |
| Dominican Republic | DOM | 9.165 |
| Benin | BEN | 9.158 |
| Burundi | BDI | 9.070 |
| Cameroon | CMR | 8.857 |
| Albania | ALB | 8.844 |
| Ghana | GHA | 8.790 |
| Philippines | PHL | 8.292 |
| Guatemala | GTM | 7.900 |
| Sri Lanka | LKA | 7.423 |
| Nepal | NPL | 7.038 |
| Sierra Leone | SLE | 6.973 |
| Paraguay | PRY | 6.861 |
| Hong Kong SAR, China | HKG | 6.823 |
| Bangladesh | BGD | 4.391 |
| Brunei Darussalam | BRN | 2.041 |