Post-demographic dividend: Goods and services expense (% of expense)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, Post-demographic dividend's goods and services expense (% of expense) rose 0 percentage points on 2022 (from 8.08% to 8.08%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was −0.1 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.85 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations above 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 1.64 percentage points in 1981 and the biggest yearly fall was 5.48 percentage points in 1978. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2014 to 2023 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 22% 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.

How it compares

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

What this measures

Goods and services include all government payments in exchange for goods and services used for the production of market and nonmarket goods and services. Use of goods and services for own account capital formation is excluded. This indicator is expressed as percentage of total expenses which is any decrease in net worth resulting from a transaction.

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 50 values

Goods and services expense (% of expense) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — 54.78% (2017)
• Bahrain — 11.52% (2020)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 4.27% (2015)
• Israel — 13.62% (2023)
• Jordan — 9.79% (2023)
• Lebanon — 4.03% (2021)
• Malta — 19.39% (2023)
• Morocco — 8.97% (2023)
• Saudi Arabia — 27.41% (2023)
• United Arab Emirates — 28.94% (2023)

More public sector data for Post-demographic dividend

• Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 13.63 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (current USD) — 1.75 trillion (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 2.65% (2025)
• Arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 26.56 billion (2025)
• Net investment in nonfinancial assets (% of GDP) — 1.53% (2024)
• Net lending (+) / net borrowing (-) (% of GDP) — -4.65% (2024)
• Revenue, excluding grants (% of GDP) — 26.29% (2024)
• Tax revenue (% of GDP) — 15.61% (2024)
• Grants and other revenue (% of revenue)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Post-demographic dividend's goods and services expense (% of expense)?

8.08% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1974?

It is down 8.97 percentage points from 17.05% in 1974. The highest value was 17.05% in 1974 and the lowest 7.25% in 1998.

Is the latest change in goods and services expense (% of expense) unusual for Post-demographic dividend?

In 2023, Post-demographic dividend's goods and services expense (% of expense) rose 0 percentage points on 2022 (from 8.08% to 8.08%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was −0.1 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.85 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations above 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?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator GC.XPN.GSRV.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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