Tax to GDP ratios

Norway is in the upper rank of OECD countries in terms of tax to GDP ratio.   The figures were very stable within the range 42.1% to 43.5% between 2000 and 2011 and were well above the OECD average for the whole period.  The 2010 figure of 42.9% was 9 percentage points above the OECD measure of 33.8%.

Figure 1: Tax revenue as percentage of GDP 2000 to latest available data

Tax structures

The main observations for Norway are:

• Revenue from personal and corporate income taxes was 19.2% of GDP in 2000 and 21.0% in 2011.  The 2010 figure of 20.2% was well above the OECD average of 11.3%.

• The tax ratio for Social security contributions was 8.9% of GDP in 2000 and 9.6% in 2011. The 2010 figure of 9.7% was just above the OECD average of 9.5%.

• The tax ratio for Taxes on goods and services decreased from 13.5% in 2000 to 11.4% of GDP in 2011 and at 11.8% in 2010 was above the OECD average of 11.0%.

• Property tax revenues were 1.2% of GDP in 2010, about two thirds of the OECD average of 1.9%.

Figure 2: Tax revenue main headings as percentage of GDP, 2000, 2007, 2010, 2011 

• OECD averages are not available for 2011 as 5 OECD countries have not provided data for that year.
• More comparative information about OECD member countries is contained in the tables linked within the following webpages:
  • Tax revenue trends: tax ratios changes between 2007 and 2011
  • Tax revenue trends: tax ratios changes between 1965 and 2010
  • Tax structures: latest position (2010)
• If you would like to print any of these pages we recommend using the 'landscape' option in your printing menu.