•We empirically examine the impact of social public spending on human development distribution in a sample of 82 developed and developing countries over the period 2010–2021.•We focus on the Human Development Index (HDI) and the Inequality-Adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI).•Social public spending (health, education and social protection) reduces the loss of HDI caused by inequality.•Social public spending has an important redistributive impact with regards to human development outcomes related to life expectancy, years of schooling and income per capita. In this article, we empirically analyse the impact of social public spending on human development distribution in a sample of 82 developed and developing countries over the period 2010–2021. Specifically, we focus on the impact of the three components of social spending (health, education and social protection) on the distribution of human development as measured by the Human Development Index (HDI) and its dimensions (health, education, and income). Applying data panel analysis, our empirical evidence shows that the three components of social expenditure reduce the loss of HDI caused by inequality. Hence, public resources allocated towards social spending have an important redistributive impact with regards to human development outcomes related to life expectancy, years of schooling and income per capita.