Australia vs Canada: Government health spending as a share of GDP
Australia
8.2%
in 2025
Canada
8.1%
in 2025
Australia rank
12th
Canada rank
13th
Government health spending as a share of GDP over time
- Australia
- Canada
How they compare
Australia currently reports 8.2% against 8.1% in Canada, a difference of 0.1%.
The two have swapped places 3 times across 64 shared years of data; in 1880 it was Canada ahead.
Australia ranks 12th and Canada ranks 13th of 59 countries.
Across the 13 decades both report, Australia averaged higher in 3 and Canada in 7.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Australia | Canada | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| 1890s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| 1900s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| 1910s | 0.4% | 0.0% | 0.4% | Australia |
| 1920s | 0.6% | 0.0% | 0.6% | Australia |
| 1930s | 0.4% | 0.0% | 0.4% | Australia |
| 1960s | 2.1% | 2.4% | 0.3% | Canada |
| 1970s | 3.3% | 4.8% | 1.5% | Canada |
| 1980s | 4.0% | 5.7% | 1.6% | Canada |
| 1990s | 4.6% | 6.2% | 1.6% | Canada |
| 2000s | 5.5% | 6.4% | 1.0% | Canada |
| 2010s | 6.5% | 7.5% | 1.0% | Canada |
| 2020s | 7.7% | 8.4% | 0.7% | Canada |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher government health spending as a share of gdp, Australia or Canada?
- Australia, at 8.2% against 8.1% in Canada as of 2025.
- What is the difference in government health spending as a share of gdp between Australia and Canada?
- 0.1%, with Australia ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Australia and Canada?
- 64 years are reported by both, from 1880 to 2025.
- How do Australia and Canada rank globally for government health spending as a share of gdp?
- Australia ranks 12th and Canada ranks 13th of 59 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- OECD (2026); OECD (1993); Lindert (1994) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Government health spending as a share of GDP. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Public health expenditure divided by gross domestic product, expressed as a percentage.