The world is currently on two divergent social protection trajectories, with high-income countries edging closer to universal coverage, while low-income countries have barely progressed since 2015. Under-investment in social protection, while not the only impediment, continues to be one of the main reasons for the low coverage rates. Public expenditure on social protection (excluding healthcare) was, on average, 13% of gross domestic product (GDP) worldwide (in 2023). This average, however, conceals enormous inequalities. While high-income countries spend 16.4% of GDP on social protection annually, upper-middle-income countries spend half of this amount (8.6%), lower-middle-income countries only spend one quarter (4.1%) and low-income countries less than one sixteenth (0.7%).