This dashboard is a practical tool for tax analysis, tax policy design and monitoring progress in domestic resource mobilisation. It draws on key indicators from the global and regional Revenue Statistics databases for Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and the OECD.
These databases contain high-quality, harmonised and detailed data on tax and non-tax revenues across a wide range of economies worldwide.
By enabling cross-regional comparisons of tax and non-tax levels, composition and trends over time, the dashboard sheds light on how different economies raise tax and non-tax revenues and how their level and structure have evolved.
The following charts draw on key indicators from the Revenue Statistics in Africa database, enabling comparisons across African countries and regional averages regarding the level, composition and trends in tax and non-tax revenues over time.
How to use: Use the search boxes throughout the page to select countries/regional averages, revenue types and year(s).
Tax revenues as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) vary widely across African countries. Despite progress over the past decade, tax-to-GDP ratios in Africa remain, on average, below those in Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and OECD countries.
Revenue Statistics in Africa supports the analysis and comparison of tax revenues over time, offering a comprehensive view of how tax levels have evolved across African countries, how they compare at a given point in time, and how different sources of taxation contribute to overall revenue.
Tax structures show the composition of tax revenues across different tax types. Taxes on goods and services tend to be the main source of tax revenue in most African countries, a pattern also commonly observed in Asia and the Pacific and in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Examining both cross-country patterns and changes over time provides important insights into how tax systems in Africa are designed, how they have evolved and the extent to which they support countries’ revenue needs and policy priorities.
Understanding the full scope of domestic revenue mobilisation requires considering non-tax revenues alongside tax revenues. Non-tax revenues comprise all government revenues that do not meet the definition of a tax (i.e. compulsory, unrequited payments). They include grants; property income (such as rents and royalties as well as interest and dividends); sales of goods and services; fines, penalties and forfeits; and miscellaneous or unidentified revenues.
Revenue Statistics in Africa shows that non-tax revenues are, on average, lower and more volatile than tax revenues. However, many African countries continue to rely on a range of non-tax revenue sources, particularly grants (foreign aid) and royalties from oil and mineral resources, to support their public finances.
Revenue Statistics in Africa provides detailed information on 63 tax types and 8 non-tax revenue categories across all levels of government (general, sub-national and social security funds). This level of detail enables in-depth analysis of revenues across a wide range of policy, sectoral and thematic areas.
One example is trade taxes – including customs and import duties, export taxes, and other taxes on international trade and transactions – which remain an important source of tax revenues for many African countries. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a cornerstone of the African Union’s Agenda 2063, aims to progressively eliminate taxes on goods traded within Africa and boost intra-African trade.
By encouraging investment and job creation across the continent, the AfCFTA is expected to help offset potential declines in tariff revenues through stronger economic growth, generating additional revenues from income taxes and other taxes on goods and services.
Note: The charts exclude the members of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), namely Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. In these countries, revenues from tariffs and customs duties are pooled in the SACU Common Revenue Pool and, with the exception of South Africa, are not separately reported in tax revenue in Revenue Statistics in Africa. For South Africa, revenues from customs duties and excise taxes include the full amount allocated to the SACU Common Revenue Pool.
