Australia vs Netherlands: Government health spending as a share of GDP
Australia
8.2%
in 2025
Netherlands
8.5%
in 2025
Australia rank
12th
Netherlands rank
9th
Government health spending as a share of GDP over time
- Australia
- Netherlands
How they compare
Netherlands currently reports 8.5% against 8.2% in Australia, a difference of 0.3%.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 72 shared years of data; in 1880 it was Netherlands ahead.
Australia ranks 12th and Netherlands ranks 9th of 59 countries.
Across the 13 decades both report, Australia averaged higher in 3 and Netherlands in 7.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Australia | Netherlands | 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% | 0.2% | Netherlands |
| 1970s | 3.3% | 4.2% | 0.9% | Netherlands |
| 1980s | 4.0% | 4.8% | 0.8% | Netherlands |
| 1990s | 4.6% | 5.3% | 0.7% | Netherlands |
| 2000s | 5.5% | 6.7% | 1.2% | Netherlands |
| 2010s | 6.5% | 8.3% | 1.8% | Netherlands |
| 2020s | 7.7% | 8.7% | 1.0% | Netherlands |
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 Netherlands?
- Netherlands, at 8.5% against 8.2% in Australia as of 2025.
- What is the difference in government health spending as a share of gdp between Australia and Netherlands?
- 0.3%, with Netherlands ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Australia and Netherlands?
- 72 years are reported by both, from 1880 to 2025.
- How do Australia and Netherlands rank globally for government health spending as a share of gdp?
- Australia ranks 12th and Netherlands ranks 9th 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.