Countries With the Highest Active Labour Market Spending
Every country with a figure for active labour market spending, ranked from highest to lowest. The top three are Denmark (1.64%), Netherlands (1.51%) and Ireland (1.22%). The middle country of the 42 has 0.397%.
What this measures
Public spending on active labour market programmes, in % of GDP. Source: OECD. For this measure, no agreed better direction.
Training, help finding jobs, wage subsidies and jobs created by government: spending on getting people into work rather than supporting them while out of it.
The full ranking
Each country’s latest figure, from 2019–2023. The year beside each value says when it was measured.
| Rank | Country | Active labour market spending | Year | Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denmark | 1.64% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 2 | Netherlands | 1.51% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 3 | Ireland | 1.22% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 4 | Sweden | 1.18% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 5 | Bulgaria | 1.06% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 6 | Spain | 0.923% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 7 | Austria | 0.866% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 8 | Belgium | 0.866% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 9 | Finland | 0.838% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 10 | France | 0.835% | 2022 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 11 | Luxembourg | 0.699% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 12 | Portugal | 0.687% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 13 | Croatia | 0.622% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 14 | Switzerland | 0.606% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 15 | Germany | 0.562% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 16 | Estonia | 0.549% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 17 | Poland | 0.523% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 18 | Italy | 0.442% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 19 | Colombia | 0.436% | 2023 | Latin America & Caribbean |
| 20 | Korea, Rep. | 0.423% | 2022 | East Asia & Pacific |
| 21 | Iceland | 0.397% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 22 | Norway | 0.377% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 23 | Lithuania | 0.37% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 24 | Australia | 0.368% | 2022 | East Asia & Pacific |
| 25 | Hungary | 0.329% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 26 | Greece | 0.306% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 27 | Japan | 0.295% | 2022 | East Asia & Pacific |
| 28 | Czechia | 0.288% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 29 | New Zealand | 0.269% | 2022 | East Asia & Pacific |
| 30 | Slovenia | 0.227% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 31 | Canada | 0.214% | 2022 | North America |
| 32 | Slovak Republic | 0.166% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 33 | United Kingdom | 0.153% | 2019 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 34 | Latvia | 0.138% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 35 | Chile | 0.134% | 2023 | Latin America & Caribbean |
| 36 | Israel | 0.131% | 2023 | Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan |
| 37 | Costa Rica | 0.129% | 2022 | Latin America & Caribbean |
| 38 | Peru | 0.087% | 2023 | Latin America & Caribbean |
| 39 | United States | 0.078% | 2023 | North America |
| 40 | Romania | 0.042% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 41 | Turkiye | 0.014% | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
| 42 | Mexico | 0.001% | 2023 | Latin America & Caribbean |
More on active labour market spending
- Countries With the Lowest Active Labour Market Spending
- Active labour market spending by country: trend over time and what it goes with
Related rankings
- Countries With the Highest Unemployment Benefit Spending
- Countries With the Highest Retirement Age, Men
- Countries With the Highest Retirement Age, Women
- Countries With the Highest Hours Worked
- Countries With the Highest Informal Employment
- Countries With the Highest Unemployment
- Countries With the Highest Female Labor Participation
- Countries With the Highest Male Labor Participation
A ranking describes countries, not the people in them, and a high or low place does not by itself say why. All country rankings.