World: Other expense (% of expense)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2022, World's other expense (% of expense) rose 1.41 percentage points on 2021 (from 6.29% to 7.7%).

Across the 18 yearly changes before that (2004 to 2021), the average change was +0.02 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.57 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.4 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 1.41 percentage points in 2022 and the biggest yearly fall was 1.21 percentage points in 2005. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2013 to 2022 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 13% 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

Other expense is spending on dividends, rent, and other miscellaneous expenses, including provision for consumption of fixed capital. 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 20 values

Other expense (% of expense) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — 0.64% (2017)
• Bahrain — -0.3% (2015)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 6.97% (2015)
• Israel — 14.18% (2023)
• Jordan — 1.9% (2023)
• Lebanon — 1.43% (2021)
• Malta — 14.76% (2023)
• Morocco — 9.31% (2023)
• Saudi Arabia — 9.36% (2023)
• United Arab Emirates — 14.2% (2023)

More public sector data for World

• Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 33.33 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 2.48% (2025)
• Arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 33.54 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (current USD) — 2.86 trillion (2025)
• Intentional homicides, female (per 100,000 female) — 2.1 (2023)
• Intentional homicides, male (per 100,000 male) — 8.3 (2023)
• Armed forces personnel, total — 27.41 million (2020)
• Armed forces personnel (% of total labor force) — 0.79% (2020)
• Revenue, excluding grants (% of GDP) — 24% (2024)
• Expense (% of GDP)

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Questions people ask

What is World's other expense (% of expense)?

7.7% in 2022, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2003?

It is up 1.78 percentage points from 5.93% in 2003. The highest value was 7.7% in 2022 and the lowest 5.61% in 2017.

Is the latest change in other expense (% of expense) unusual for World?

In 2022, World's other expense (% of expense) rose 1.41 percentage points on 2021 (from 6.29% to 7.7%). Across the 18 yearly changes before that (2004 to 2021), the average change was +0.02 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.57 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.4 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

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.XPN.OTHR.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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