Information sources Fiscal space and social protection:
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Between 2005 and 2008, social spending averaged 21.3 per cent of GDP
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while social protection including health expenditures averaged 14.6 per cent. Overall, two in every
three dollars spent in the social sector were allocated to social protection initiatives, a clear indication of the political will to support social protection initiatives. In comparison to
regional levels, three countries Brazil, Costa Rica and Lesotho show coefficients above the regional figure see figure 3. According to the ILO´s World Social Security Report
2010-2011, social security expenditures including health accounted for 9.7 per cent of GDP in Latin America, 8.7 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa and 12 per cent in Asia and the
Pacific ILO, 2010a, Table 8.1.
Figure 3. Social spending and social protection as a percentage of GDP 2005-2008
Source: Individual country data based on ministries of finance, housing, education of each country, central bank Botswana, national statistical offices, ECLAC 2010a, IMF 2010b, World Bank 2010 and WHO 2010b.
As a share of total public expenditure, social spending accounted for an average of 56.6 per cent of GDP. Costa Rica ranks at the top of the list of countries with roughly 72.1 per cent
of public spending going to social expenditure see figure 4. Botswana´s share of expenditure on the social sector 46.2 per cent ranks at the bottom of the list. About half
of social expenditure went to social protection initiatives, with great variations between Brazil 51,7 per cent and Botswana 15 per cent.
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Weighted average by size of the economy. Simple average for this indicator was 17.9 per cent.
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Figure 4. Social spending and social protection expenditures as a percentage of total government
expenditure 2005-2008
Source: Individual country data based on ministries of finance, housing, education of each country, central bank Botswana, national statistical offices, ECLAC 2010a, IMF 2010b, World Bank 2010 and WHO 2010b.
Countries also differ in terms of the size of their governments. Smaller governments, in terms of their participation in the economy as expressed by fiscal revenue collection and
total expenditures as percentage of GDP, correspond to Thailand and Costa Rica with public expenditures representing less than 25 per cent of GDP social contributions
included. Lesotho represents the biggest government of the group accounting for 50.7 per cent of GDP revenues and 63 per cent for expenditures. The rest of the countries present
public spending levels ranging between 27 and 35 per cent of GDP see figure 5.