New Zealand: Government spending, percent of GDP

The latest value from 2024 is 21.06 percent, unchanged from 21.06 percent in 2023. In comparison, the world average is 16.86 percent, based on data from 164 countries. Historically, the average for New Zealand from 1970 to 2024 is 18.05 percent. The minimum value, 14.5 percent, was reached in 1973 while the maximum of 21.07 percent was recorded in 2021. See the global rankings or world map for that indicator or use the country comparator to compare trends over time.

The government size of New Zealand and other countries is calculated as the total government spending as percent of GDP.

Definition: Final consumption expenditure is expenditure on goods and services by resident institutional units for the direct satisfaction of human needs or wants, whether individual or collective. General government FCE includes all government current expenditures for purchases of goods and services (including compensation of employees), and most expenditures on national defense and security, but excludes government military expenditures that are part of government capital formation. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.