China · General Government Expenditure (IMF)

## What this measures

General government total expenditure, including interest, as a percent of GDP. China.

## Why it matters

Shows the size of the state on the spending side and how it moves through booms and recessions.

## How to read it

Rises in recessions as GDP falls and support payments rise; compare with revenue to see the deficit.

Each point is one year's figure in the newest World Economic Outlook, dated December 31. The series stops the year before the WEO's own year; the IMF's forecast from there is a separate series (the same name with "IMF Projection"), so this line never mixes measured and forecast years. The newest year is often still an IMF estimate, and the whole history is revised with each edition.

## What it does not say

Not adjusted for the cycle.

## Source

Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database, October 2026 (the IMF's published database file, WEOOct2026all.xlsx). Figures as published, rounded to at most four decimals. Provided by the IMF "as is" and available free of charge from the IMF; the IMF does not endorse Palanor.