North America: Social contributions (% of revenue)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, North America's social contributions (% of revenue) rose 0.04 percentage points on 2023 (from 29.93% to 29.97%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +0.07 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.42 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.0 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 3.14 percentage points in 2009 and the biggest yearly fall was 7.81 percentage points in 1990. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2015 to 2024 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 2% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

What this measures

Social contributions are actual or imputed contributions payable to social insurance schemes to make provisions for social benefits to be paid. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of revenue which includes all transactions that add to the amount of economic value of a unit or sector.

Limitations: For most countries central government finance data have been consolidated into one account, but for others only budgetary central government accounts are available. Countries reporting budgetary data are noted in the country metadata. Because budgetary accounts may not include all central government units (such as social security funds), they usually provide an incomplete picture. In federal states the central government accounts provide an incomplete view of total public finance. Data on government revenue and expense are collected by the IMF through questionnaires to member countries and by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a median.

All 53 values

Social contributions (% of revenue) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — 0.6% (2017)
• Israel — 16% (2024)
• Jordan — 0.06% (2023)
• Lebanon — 0.00767% (2024)
• Malta — 15.26% (2024)
• United Arab Emirates — 9.03% (2024)

More public sector data for North America

• Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 828 million (2025)
• Military expenditure (current USD) — 991.88 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 3.01% (2025)
• Arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 14.29 billion (2025)
• Net incurrence of liabilities, total (% of GDP) — 6.89% (2024)
• Net investment in nonfinancial assets (% of GDP) — 1.41% (2024)
• Net lending (+) / net borrowing (-) (% of GDP) — -6.67% (2024)
• Grants and other revenue (% of revenue) — 5.43% (2024)
• Revenue, excluding grants (% of GDP) — 17.96% (2024)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is North America's social contributions (% of revenue)?

29.97% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1972?

It is up 6.36 percentage points from 23.6% in 1972. The highest value was 34.23% in 1988 and the lowest 23.6% in 1972.

Is the latest change in social contributions (% of revenue) unusual for North America?

In 2024, North America's social contributions (% of revenue) rose 0.04 percentage points on 2023 (from 29.93% to 29.97%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +0.07 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.42 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.0 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator GC.REV.SOCL.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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