Data for 2020

Public Sector Wage Bill, 2020

Name: Public Sector Wage Bill, 2020
Creator: World Bank Group
License: https://data.worldbank.org/summary-terms-of-use

2020, as World Bank Group’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Public Sector Wage Bill, 2020 covers 181 countries. Nauru is highest, at 38.356; Venezuela is lowest, at 0.358. The middle country reads 9.155. Against 2019, 180 values changed (157 up, 23 down), 3 left.

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Public Sector Wage Bill · Data for 2020

HighestNauru

38.356

LowestVenezuela

0.358

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the highest end.

181countries
1measure
2020the year it describes
181distinct values15 decimals, as published
Sep 11, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Public Sector Wage Bill, 2020, as published. World Bank Group ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 181 countries · select a heading to sort

Public Sector Wage Bill, 2020: every country, as published by World Bank Group.
derived
1	Nauru`NRU`Micronesia	38.356
2	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	32.695
3	Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	31.423
4	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	27.443
5	Marshall Islands`MHL`Micronesia	21.592
6	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	19.842
7	Micronesia`FSM`Micronesia	19.670
8	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	18.756
9	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	17.880
10	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	16.779
11	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	16.646
12	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	16.058
13	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	16.040
14	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	15.772
15	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	15.375
16	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	15.188
17	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	14.951
18	Bolivia`BOL`South America	14.452
19	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	14.254
20	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	13.745
21	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	13.473
22	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	13.405
23	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	13.334
24	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	13.279
25	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	13.239
26	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	13.232
27	France`FRA`Western Europe	13.172
28	Canada`CAN`Northern America	12.915
29	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	12.900
30	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	12.861
31	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	12.807
32	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	12.803
33	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	12.768
34	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	12.766
35	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	12.736
36	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	12.720
37	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	12.519
38	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	12.474
39	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	12.420
40	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	12.123
41	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	12.086
42	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	12.085
43	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	11.957
44	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	11.914
45	San Marino`SMR`Southern Europe	11.884
46	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	11.883
47	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	11.881
48	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	11.755
49	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	11.630
50	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	11.587
51	Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	11.511
52	Honduras`HND`Central America	11.478
53	Ecuador`ECU`South America	11.475
54	Belize`BLZ`Central America	11.449
55	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	11.444
56	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	11.401
57	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	11.373
58	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	11.359
59	Macau`MAC`Eastern Asia	11.357
60	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	11.314
61	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	11.270
62	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	11.169
63	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	11.094
64	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	11.091
65	Argentina`ARG`South America	11.065
66	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	10.923
67	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	10.871
68	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	10.802
69	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	10.757
70	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	10.660
71	Brazil`BRA`South America	10.598
72	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	10.529
73	Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	10.527
74	Suriname`SUR`South America	10.521
75	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	10.470
76	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	10.386
77	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	10.329
78	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	10.276
79	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	10.200
80	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	10.090
81	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	10.088
82	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	9.901
83	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	9.857
84	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	9.766
85	United States`USA`Northern America	9.763
86	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	9.333
87	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	9.286
88	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	9.215
89	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	9.207
90	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	9.163
91	Aruba`ABW`Caribbean	9.155
92	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	8.983
93	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	8.870
94	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	8.687
95	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	8.639
96	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	8.619
97	Panama`PAN`Central America	8.611
98	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	8.538
99	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	8.347
100	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	8.346
101	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	8.171
102	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	8.111
103	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	8.091
104	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	8.031
105	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	7.854
106	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	7.798
107	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	7.749
108	Chile`CHL`South America	7.545
109	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	7.462
110	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	7.451
111	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	7.300
112	Paraguay`PRY`South America	7.299
113	Peru`PER`South America	7.296
114	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	7.282
115	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	7.213
116	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	7.185
117	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	7.091
118	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	7.073
119	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	6.990
120	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	6.893
121	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	6.832
122	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	6.660
123	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	6.600
124	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	6.562
125	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	6.514
126	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	6.403
127	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	6.326
128	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	6.301
129	Guyana`GUY`South America	6.299
130	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	6.168
131	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	6.160
132	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	6.150
133	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	6.145
134	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	5.921
135	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	5.833
136	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	5.826
137	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	5.724
138	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	5.702
139	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	5.633
140	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	5.495
141	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	5.432
142	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	5.404
143	Colombia`COL`South America	5.395
144	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	5.385
145	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	5.361
146	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	5.354
147	Mexico`MEX`Central America	5.278
148	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	5.245
149	Uruguay`URY`South America	5.240
150	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	5.177
151	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	5.014
152	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	4.984
153	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	4.843
154	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	4.734
155	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	4.677
156	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	4.624
157	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	4.619
158	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	4.617
159	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	4.544
160	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	4.440
161	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	4.400
162	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	4.338
163	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	4.315
164	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	4.067
165	Niger`NER`Western Africa	3.764
166	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	3.757
167	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	3.719
168	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	3.568
169	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	3.393
170	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	3.360
171	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	3.327
172	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	3.302
173	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	3.298
174	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	3.127
175	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	3.097
176	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	3.000
177	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	2.890
178	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	1.833
179	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	1.795
180	India`IND`Southern Asia	1.136
181	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.358

02In 2020

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Nauru38.356
2Kiribati32.695
3Tuvalu31.423
4Kuwait27.443
5Marshall Islands21.592

Lowest

181Venezuela0.358
180India1.136
179Bangladesh1.795
178Nigeria1.833
177Sudan2.890

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 9.155. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032019 → 2020

Since 2019

What changed between 2019 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −3countries joined / left
180values changed, of 181 in both
157 · 23rose · fell
1unchanged

Rose most

Kuwait20.621 → 27.443+6.822
Macau4.923 → 11.357+6.433
Iraq14.713 → 19.842+5.130
Maldives9.616 → 14.254+4.638
Oman9.918 → 12.766+2.848

Fell most

Lebanon12.652 → 10.329−2.323
Nauru39.685 → 38.356−1.329
Kiribati33.728 → 32.695−1.033
South Sudan4.098 → 3.097−1.002
Afghanistan13.437 → 12.736−0.701

− South Korea

− Palau

− Vietnam

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

How values are stored

One year of the 2026 release
Every year in this series comes from World Bank Group’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 2020.
The position is ours
World Bank Group publishes values only; the order is this site’s.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 181 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
181 rows · 6.7 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download public-wage-bill-2020-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
World Bank Group’s own file, on its own site.
BI.WAG.TOTL.GD.ZS

What this site changed: 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.

Licence: CC BY 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

World Bank Group (2020). Public Sector Wage Bill, 2020 [data set], describing 2020. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/public-wage-bill/2020

0623 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Public Sector Wage Bill, 2019
184 countries
The year after ›
Public Sector Wage Bill, 2021
176 countries
All of them
Public Sector Wage Bill: every year
23 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions