Government deficits or surpluses are commonly assessed using the net borrowing (or net lending) figures of the general government sector in the national accounts. During the period between 1991 and 2005, governments in most OECD countries have recorded deficits but in 2006 half of the OECD countries recorded general government surpluses. Government deficits have to be met by borrowing from residents or foreigners.

There are two standard ways to measure the extent of government debt – by reference to gross financial liabilities or by reference to net financial liabilities – the latter being measured as gross financial liabilities minus financial assets. Gross financial liabilities as a percentage of GDP is the most commonly used government debt ratio and is shown here.

In most OECD countries, spending on health is a large and growing share of both public and private expenditure. The level of spending as a share of GDP varies widely across countries, reflecting a wide array of market and social factors as well as the diverse financing and organisational structures of the health system in each country

Social expenditures as a percentage of GDP are a measure of the extent to which governments assume responsibility for supporting the standard of living of disadvantaged or vulnerable groups.

Two essential tasks of a government are to protect the state from external aggression and maintain law and public order within its frontiers. Over the period considered here, the collapse of the Soviet Union led to a reduction in defence expenditures in many OECD countries, while the terror attacks in the United States led to increases in government expenditures on internal security. The figures shown here reflect these opposing influences.

During the mid-1980s, when the Uruguay Round of agricultural trade negotiations was getting underway, the OECD undertook to measure and codify support to the farm sector arising from agricultural policies. This led to the development of the producer support estimate (PSE), an indicator that is available on a timely and comprehensive basis for all 30 of the OECD’s member countries (the European Union is treated as a single entity) and selected non-members. The measure includes budgetary transfers financed by taxpayers but also includes the implicit tax on consumers that arises from agricultural policies – border protection, and administered pricing – that raise farm prices above the levels that would otherwise prevail. The measure is agreed by OECD member countries and is widely recognised as the only available internationally comparable indicator.

Catches from sea fishing have been declining due to falling stocks as a result of over-fishing, and because of national and international measures to preserve remaining fish resources. This has been particularly marked in the Northern Hemisphere and has led governments in many OECD countries to provide financial support to the fishing industry.

The promotion of economic and social development in non-member countries has been a principal objective of the OECD since its foundation. The share of national income devoted to official development assistance (ODA) is widely regarded as a test of a country’s commitment to international development, and there is a long-standing United Nations target for developed countries to devote 0.7% of their gross national income (GNI) to ODA. The tables in this section show total ODA as shares of GNI as well as the geographical distribution of bilateral ODA.

Total tax revenue as a percentage of GDP indicates the share of a country’s output that is collected by the government through taxes. It can thus be regarded as one measure of the degree to which the government controls the economy’s resources. Taxes on incomes and profits as a percentage of GDP represents the amount of resources collected by government directly from the incomes of people and companies. Taxes on goods and services as a percentage of GDP represents the amount of resources the government collects from people as they spend their income on goods and services.

This series, taxes on a single average worker, measures the difference between the salary cost of a single average worker to their employer and the amount of disposable income (net wage) that the worker receives. This “tax wedge” represents the extent to which the tax system discourages employment.