Law in Charts · Business, tax and the economy
Tax revenue as a share of national income, over time
How has the share of income collected in tax moved in nine countries?
% of gross domestic product, central government
Source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Tax revenue (% of GDP), via the World Bank. Data for 2000 to 2024. What it counts, how to cite it and the data
At a glance
- United States: 13.0% in 2000, 10.8% in 2024.
- United Kingdom: 26.0% in 2000, 26.9% in 2024.
- Germany: 11.7% in 2000, 10.9% in 2024.
- France: 23.5% in 2000, 22.8% in 2024.
- India: 8.8% in 2000, 6.9% in 2022.
- Brazil: 14.2% in 2010, 15.4% in 2024.
- South Africa: 21.0% in 2000, 25.9% in 2024.
- Bulgaria: 20.5% in 2000, 20.7% in 2024.
The countries shown are a selection from different regions and legal traditions, chosen for the length of their data and not for any result.
What it counts
Tax revenue collected by central government as a share of gross domestic product.
What it leaves out, and how far to trust a comparison
Regional and local taxes and social security contributions are not counted, and many countries have changed how they report. A line shows that something changed, not why.
Source
Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF): Tax revenue (% of GDP), via the World Bank, compiled in World Bank, World Development Indicators. Source licence: CC BY 4.0. Data retrieved 2026-10-23 to 2026-10-25.
Cite this chart
Free to use in teaching, articles, reports and slides, with credit. Our compilation is licensed CC BY 4.0; the source publishes the underlying data under its own licence, shown below.
Reference (APA style)
TheLawToKnow. (2026). Tax revenue as a share of national income, over time [Chart]. Law in Charts. https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/law-in-charts/tax-revenue-trend. Data: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Tax revenue (% of GDP), via the World Bank, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GC.TAX.TOTL.GD.ZS (data retrieved 2026-10-23 to 2026-10-25).
Short credit for slides and websites
Chart: TheLawToKnow, Law in Charts (https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/law-in-charts/tax-revenue-trend). Data: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), via World Bank, World Development Indicators.
BibTeX
@misc{taxrevenuetrend2026,
author = {{TheLawToKnow}},
title = {Tax revenue as a share of national income, over time},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Law in Charts},
url = {https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/law-in-charts/tax-revenue-trend},
note = {Data: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Tax revenue (% of GDP), via the World Bank, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GC.TAX.TOTL.GD.ZS. Retrieved 2026-10-23 to 2026-10-25.}
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