Social protection, Ratio of this level of government's expenditure on in Ireland

Ireland: Social protection, Ratio of this level of government's expenditure on was 0.5612 in 2020. ▼ Falling

Latest (2020)
0.5612
Change on year
down 4.4%
World rank
26th
of 60 countries
All-time high
0.9749
in 2010
All-time low
0.5612
in 2020
Years of data
26
1995–2020

Social protection, Ratio of this level of government's expenditure on in Ireland, 1995–2020

00.20.40.60.811995200720201995: 0.9581996: 0.951997: 0.9521998: 0.9521999: 0.9412000: 0.952001: 0.9382002: 0.9412003: 0.9612004: 0.9612005: 0.9592006: 0.9642007: 0.9642008: 0.972009: 0.9662010: 0.9752011: 0.9682012: 0.9682013: 0.9642014: 0.9692015: 0.9592016: 0.9552017: 0.6182018: 0.6032019: 0.5872020: 0.561

Source: International Monetary Fund.

Analysis

Ireland recorded 0.5612 for social protection, ratio of this level of government's expenditure on in 2020. That is the lowest value across all 26 years on record.

The figure is down 4.4% on the previous year and down 42.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, social protection, ratio of this level of government's expenditure on in Ireland peaked at 0.9749 in 2010 and was at its lowest, 0.5612, in 2020.

Ireland ranks 26th of 60 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 26 years of available data.

Social protection, Ratio of this level of government's expenditure on in Ireland, year by year

Annual values for Social protection, Ratio of this level of government's expenditure on this item to total general government expenditure on this, Percent (Central government) in Ireland, 1995 to 2020.
Year Value Change
1995 0.9584
1996 0.9505 -0.8%
1997 0.9523 +0.2%
1998 0.9521 -0.0%
1999 0.9414 -1.1%
2000 0.9501 +0.9%
2001 0.9376 -1.3%
2002 0.9407 +0.3%
2003 0.9612 +2.2%
2004 0.9611 -0.0%
2005 0.9589 -0.2%
2006 0.9637 +0.5%
2007 0.9645 +0.1%
2008 0.9702 +0.6%
2009 0.9659 -0.4%
2010 0.9749 +0.9%
2011 0.9679 -0.7%
2012 0.968 +0.0%
2013 0.9638 -0.4%
2014 0.969 +0.5%
2015 0.9592 -1.0%
2016 0.9548 -0.5%
2017 0.6184 -35.2%
2018 0.6029 -2.5%
2019 0.587 -2.6%
2020 0.5612 -4.4%

Ireland compared with similar countries

  • Ireland's 0.5612 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.4018, 1.4× the median. (36 countries reporting)
  • Ireland's 0.5612 is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.4609, 1.2× the median. (43 countries reporting)

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where Social protection, Ratio of this level of government's expenditure on in Ireland changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.

YearChange FromTo
2017 -35.2% 0.9548 0.6184

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 0.9509 0.9414 0.9584 5
2000s 0.9574 0.9376 0.9702 10
2010s 0.8566 0.587 0.9749 10
2020s 0.5612 0.5612 0.5612 1

Countries ranked near Ireland

  1. 23 Serbia 0.5851 compare
  2. 24 El Salvador 0.5806 compare
  3. 25 Albania 0.5659 compare
  4. 27 Sweden 0.5262 compare
  5. 28 Austria 0.5028 compare
  6. 29 Ukraine 0.4895 compare

See the full ranking of 60 places →

More public sector data for Ireland

All data for Ireland →

Frequently asked questions

What is social protection, ratio of this level of government's expenditure on in Ireland?
Social protection, ratio of this level of government's expenditure on in Ireland was 0.5612 in 2020, according to International Monetary Fund.
What is the highest social protection, ratio of this level of government's expenditure on recorded in Ireland?
The highest recorded value was 0.9749 in 2010.
What is the lowest social protection, ratio of this level of government's expenditure on recorded in Ireland?
The lowest recorded value was 0.5612 in 2020.
How does Ireland rank for social protection, ratio of this level of government's expenditure on?
Ireland ranks 26th out of 60 countries with data for 2020.
Is social protection, ratio of this level of government's expenditure on rising or falling in Ireland?
Over the last ten years it is down 42.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Ireland data come from?
The figures come from International Monetary Fund, published as part of Social protection, Ratio of this level of government's expenditure on this item to total general government expenditure on this, Percent (Central government). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Social protection, Ratio of this level of government's expenditure on in Ireland. Statizoid, drawing on International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 16 September 2026, from https://public-sector.statizoid.com/stat/social-protection-ratio-of-this-level-of-government-s-expenditure-on-this-item-to-total/ireland/

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About this data

Indicator
Social protection, Ratio of this level of government's expenditure on this item to total general government expenditure on this, Percent (Central government)
Source
International Monetary Fund
Licence
IMF Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage
60 places, 1,210 data points, 1990–2020
Last refreshed

The Fiscal Decentralization dataset includes fiscal decentralization indicators for a sample of IMF member countries. The following indicators are included in the dataset: Revenue and Expenditure Decentralization Shares; Transfer dependency and Vertical Fiscal Imbalances; Deficit and Debt; Allocation of expenditure (economic classification); Allocation of expenditure (functional classification); Allocation of non-Tax Revenues; and Allocation of Taxes.