The bar chart compares the proportions of government expenditure allocated to roads and transport in four countries – Italy, Portugal, the UK and the USA over a 15-year period, from 1990 to 2005.
Overall, despite some fluctuations, the percentages of government spending on roads and transport declined in Italia, Portugal and the UK over the period shown, whereas the figure for the USA increased. Italy and Portugal consistently allocated a much larger share of their government expenditure to this sector than the UK and the USA.
In 1990, Portugal spent about 27% of its government expenditure on roads and transport, followed by Italia at approximately 22%. Portugal’s spending declined gradually and steadily to 20% in 2005. Meanwhile, Italia’s figure fell slightly to 20% in 1995 before rising to around 24% in 2000 and then dropping again to just under 20% at the end of the period.
In 1990, just over 10% of government expenditure in the USA was spent on roads and transport, while the figure for the UK was slightly lower, at 10%. Between 1990 and 2005, the UK’s expenditure fell minimally before increasing to around 12% in 2000 and then continued to decline to just over 7% in 2005. In contrast, after a slight decline, the proportion of government spending on roads and transport in the USA rose significantly to 15% over the same period.