Compensation of employees in OECD members
OECD members: Compensation of employees was 13.5% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Compensation of employees in OECD members, 1972–2023
Source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of expense.
Analysis
In 2023, compensation of employees in OECD members stood at 13.5%.
That represents a change of up 7.5% on the previous year and down 0.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, compensation of employees in OECD members peaked at 18.4% in 1973 and was at its lowest, 11.2%, in 1991.
That places OECD members 38th out of 39 groups with data for 2023, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 52 years of available data.
Compensation of employees in OECD members, year by year
| Year | % of expense | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | 17.6% | — |
| 1973 | 18.4% | +4.3% |
| 1974 | 16.7% | -9.1% |
| 1975 | 15.5% | -7.1% |
| 1976 | 15.6% | +0.5% |
| 1977 | 15.7% | +0.7% |
| 1978 | 15.7% | +0.3% |
| 1979 | 15.1% | -3.8% |
| 1980 | 13.9% | -8.0% |
| 1981 | 13.8% | -1.1% |
| 1982 | 13.4% | -2.5% |
| 1983 | 13.0% | -3.1% |
| 1984 | 12.8% | -1.5% |
| 1985 | 12.7% | -1.3% |
| 1986 | 12.8% | +0.8% |
| 1987 | 13.3% | +4.0% |
| 1988 | 14.1% | +6.5% |
| 1989 | 13.8% | -2.3% |
| 1990 | 13.2% | -4.5% |
| 1991 | 11.2% | -14.9% |
| 1992 | 11.9% | +5.6% |
| 1993 | 11.4% | -3.6% |
| 1994 | 11.3% | -1.4% |
| 1995 | 15.1% | +33.4% |
| 1996 | 14.4% | -4.5% |
| 1997 | 14.3% | -0.8% |
| 1998 | 14.9% | +4.2% |
| 1999 | 13.3% | -10.1% |
| 2000 | 13.0% | -3.0% |
| 2001 | 13.2% | +1.6% |
| 2002 | 14.6% | +11.2% |
| 2003 | 14.6% | -0.1% |
| 2004 | 13.9% | -4.8% |
| 2005 | 14.1% | +1.2% |
| 2006 | 13.9% | -1.5% |
| 2007 | 13.8% | -0.5% |
| 2008 | 14.4% | +4.6% |
| 2009 | 14.2% | -1.9% |
| 2010 | 14.1% | -0.6% |
| 2011 | 14.1% | -0.0% |
| 2012 | 13.5% | -3.9% |
| 2013 | 13.5% | +0.2% |
| 2014 | 13.4% | -0.9% |
| 2015 | 13.1% | -2.1% |
| 2016 | 13.4% | +2.3% |
| 2017 | 14.1% | +4.7% |
| 2018 | 14.0% | -0.4% |
| 2019 | 14.1% | +0.3% |
| 2020 | 12.7% | -9.8% |
| 2021 | 12.9% | +1.9% |
| 2022 | 12.6% | -2.8% |
| 2023 | 13.5% | +7.5% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 16.3% | 15.1% | 18.4% | 8 |
| 1980s | 13.4% | 12.7% | 14.1% | 10 |
| 1990s | 13.1% | 11.2% | 15.1% | 10 |
| 2000s | 14.0% | 13.0% | 14.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 13.7% | 13.1% | 14.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 12.9% | 12.6% | 13.5% | 4 |
Countries ranked near OECD members
- 35 Guinea-Bissau 38.4% compare
- 36 Jamaica 38.0% compare
- 37 Democratic Republic of Congo 37.4% compare
- 38 Seychelles 37.3% compare
- 39 Senegal 37.1% compare
- 40 Sudan 36.8% compare
- 41 Zimbabwe 36.6% compare
More public sector data for OECD members
- Arms imports 11.87 billion SIPRI trend indicator values (2024)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), per capita 8.5 SIPRI trend indicator values per person (2024)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), per unit of GDP 0.0002 SIPRI trend indicator values per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), annual growth rate 26.58 % change on previous year (2024)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), gaps filled 11.87 billion SIPRI trend indicator values (2024)
- Military expenditure (current USD), per capita 1,238 current USD per person (2024)
- Military expenditure (current USD), per unit of GDP 0.0253 current USD per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Military expenditure (current USD), annual growth rate 12.54 % change on previous year (2024)
- Military expenditure (current USD), gaps filled 1.73 trillion current USD (2024)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), per square kilometre 265.52 SIPRI trend indicator values per square kilometre (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is compensation of employees in OECD members?
- Compensation of employees in OECD members was 13.5% in 2023, according to Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest compensation of employees recorded in OECD members?
- The highest recorded value was 18.4% in 1973.
- What is the lowest compensation of employees recorded in OECD members?
- The lowest recorded value was 11.2% in 1991.
- How does OECD members rank for compensation of employees?
- OECD members ranks 38th out of 39 groups with data for 2023.
- Is compensation of employees rising or falling in OECD members?
- Over the last ten years it is down 0.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this OECD members data come from?
- The figures come from Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Compensation of employees (% of expense). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 52 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Compensation of employees is defined as the total remuneration, in cash or in kind, payable by an enterprise to an employee in return for work done by the latter during the accounting period. This indicator is expressed as percentage of total expenses which is any decrease in net worth resulting from a transaction.