Tax to GDP ratios

The tax to GDP ratio in Netherlands declined from 39.6% in 2000 to 36.9% in 2003 before rising to 39.3% in 2008.  It then fell to 38.2% in 2010 before partially recovering.  It was above the OECD average over the whole the period.   The 2010 figure of 38.7% was around 5 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 Netherlands are:

• Revenue from personal and corporate income taxes was stable at around 10-11% of GDP between 2000 and 2010, and the 2010 figure of 10.8% was just below the OECD average of 11.3%.

• The tax ratio for Social security contributions was 15.4% in 2000 and 14.1% in 2010, when it was well above the OECD average of 9.5%.

• The tax ratio for Taxes on goods and services was stable at around 11-12% of GDP over the period and at 11.9% in 2010 was above the OECD average of 11.0%.

• Property tax revenues were 1.5% of GDP in 2010, below the OECD average of 1.9%.

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

• The Netherlands has not provided data for 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)
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