Sweden vs United States of America: Government health spending as a share of GDP
Sweden
9.3%
in 2025
United States of America
14.6%
in 2025
Sweden rank
4th
United States of America rank
1st
Government health spending as a share of GDP over time
- Sweden
- United States of America
How they compare
United States of America currently reports 14.6% against 9.3% in Sweden, a difference of 5.3%.
That makes United States of America's figure about 1.6 times Sweden's.
The two have swapped places 5 times across 72 shared years of data; in 1880 it was Sweden ahead.
Sweden ranks 4th and United States of America ranks 1st of 59 countries.
Across the 13 decades both report, Sweden averaged higher in 10 and United States of America in 3.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Sweden | United States of America | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.0% | Sweden |
| 1890s | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.0% | Sweden |
| 1900s | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.0% | Sweden |
| 1910s | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.0% | Sweden |
| 1920s | 0.2% | 0.4% | 0.2% | United States of America |
| 1930s | 0.9% | 0.3% | 0.6% | Sweden |
| 1960s | 3.3% | 1.5% | 1.8% | Sweden |
| 1970s | 5.7% | 2.8% | 2.9% | Sweden |
| 1980s | 6.7% | 3.9% | 2.8% | Sweden |
| 1990s | 6.2% | 5.4% | 0.8% | Sweden |
| 2000s | 6.7% | 6.6% | 0.1% | Sweden |
| 2010s | 9.0% | 11.4% | 2.4% | United States of America |
| 2020s | 9.6% | 14.6% | 5.0% | United States of America |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher government health spending as a share of gdp, Sweden or United States of America?
- United States of America, at 14.6% against 9.3% in Sweden as of 2025.
- What is the difference in government health spending as a share of gdp between Sweden and United States of America?
- 5.3%, with United States of America ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Sweden and United States of America?
- 72 years are reported by both, from 1880 to 2025.
- How do Sweden and United States of America rank globally for government health spending as a share of gdp?
- Sweden ranks 4th and United States of America ranks 1st 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.