Tax to GDP ratios

The tax to GDP ratio in Spain rose from 34.3% in 2000 to 37.3% in 2007 before falling back to 30.9% in 2009.   It subsequently rose to 31.6% by 2011.  It was below the OECD average from 2000 to 2003 but rose above it from then to 2007 before falling below again.  The 2010 figure of 32.3% was 1.5 percentage points below the OECD average of 33.8%.

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

Tax structures

The main observations for Spain are:

• Revenue from personal and corporate income taxes was 9.8% of GDP in 2000 and 9.2% in 2011.  The 2010 figure was 9.1%, below the OECD average of 11.3%.

• The tax ratio for Social security contributions was around 12% of GDP in 2000 and both 2010 and 2011.   It was above the OECD average of 9.5% in 2010.

• The tax ratio for Taxes on goods and services was 10.2% in 2000 and 8.3% of GDP in 2011.  The 2010 figure of 8.6% was below the OECD average of 11.0%.

• Property tax revenues were 2.0% of GDP in 2010, similar to 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.