The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published a new report examining how countries finance social protection systems and how demographic and labour-market changes could affect their future sustainability.

The “Financing of Social Protection” report was published on 9 September 2026 and provides comparative data on social spending, social-security contributions and other sources of public financing across OECD and European Union economies.

According to the report, social protection expenditure accounts for around 23% of GDP on average across the OECD and EU. Roughly half of public social spending is financed through social-security contributions, although the balance varies significantly between countries.

The OECD also highlights a significant difference involving self-employed workers. In the EU, self-employed people represent approximately 14% of employment but contribute only around 4% of social-security contributions, according to the report.

Population ageing is another major factor identified in the analysis. As populations become older, the number of people available to work and the total number of hours worked could decline. This may place additional pressure on systems that depend heavily on contributions from workers.

The report therefore examines how governments can maintain adequate social protection while dealing with changing employment patterns, demographic pressures and evolving sources of public revenue.

The findings are particularly relevant for pensions, healthcare, unemployment protection and other social programmes that require stable long-term financing. Countries may need to reassess how contributions, taxation and government transfers are combined to maintain these systems.

The OECD’s analysis provides policymakers with comparative evidence for understanding where financing gaps may emerge and how different financing structures could respond to future demographic and economic changes.

The report adds to a wider set of OECD publications released on 9 September 2026, including new work on the space economy, artificial intelligence and tourism, and supply-chain resilience.