Tax Revenue-to-GDP Ratio By Country: U.S. Ranks 30th; Canada 21st

Taxes…provide 50% or more of government funds in almost every country in the world…[and] using a tax-to-GDP ratio is one of the more useful ways to compare tax systems around the world…[and this article does just that].

What is the Tax-to-GDP Ratio?

The tax-to-GDP ratio compares a country’s tax revenue to the size of its economy, which in this case is measured by its GDP. The higher the ratio, the higher the proportion of money that goes to government coffers. If managed effectively, this can support the long-term health and prosperity of an economy. According to research conducted by the International Monetary Fund, countries should have a tax-to-GDP ratio of at least 12% in order to experience accelerated economic growth.

The Tax-to-GDP Ratios of OECD countries

The countries that are part of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) all meet that threshold, with an average tax-to-GDP ratio of 33.8%. The…[ranking below] looks at 35 of the 37 OECD countries, since recent data for Australia and Japan was not available.

Rank	Country	Tax Revenue as % of GDP
21	Canada	33.5%
22	Estonia	33.1%
23	United Kingdom	33.0%
24	New Zealand	32.3%
25	Latvia	31.2%
26	Israel	30.5%
27	Lithuania	30.3%
28	Switzerland	28.5%
29	South Korea	27.4%
30	United States	24.5%
	OECD Average

Rank	Country	Tax Revenue as % of GDP
31	Turkey	23.1%
32	Ireland	22.7%
33	Chile	20.7%
34	Colombia	19.7%
35	Mexico	16.5%
	OECD Average

At 46.3%, Denmark has the highest ratio on the list. The country puts its relatively high tax revenue to use, particularly when it comes to subsidizing post-secondary education—in Denmark, university is free for all EU citizens.

On the less-taxed end of the spectrum, the U.S. ranks 30 out of 35, with a ratio of 24.5%—that’s notably lower than the OECD average of 33.8%…

Where does America’s tax revenue come from? It gains most of its revenue from the personal income tax. In fact, 41% of the country’s total tax revenue comes from taxes on personal income, as well as individual profits and gains—for context, the OECD average is 24%. With President Biden’s recent  announcement to increase corporate taxes and personal investment gains, America’s ratio could look a lot different in the near future.

Editor’s Note:  The original article by Carmen Ang has been edited ([ ]) and abridged (…) above for the sake of clarity and brevity to ensure a fast and easy read.  The author’s views and conclusions are unaltered and no personal comments have been included to maintain the integrity of the original article.  Furthermore, the views, conclusions and any recommendations offered in this article are not to be construed as an endorsement of such by the editor. Also note that this complete paragraph must be included in any re-posting to avoid copyright infringement.

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