This chapter provides information on tax and non-tax revenue in 37 Asian and Pacific economies, including tax-to-GDP ratios for individual economies, selected sub-regions and the region as a whole. It also contains information on tax structures, tax revenue by level of government and environmentally related tax revenue, as well as on the level and structure of non-tax revenue for selected economies in the region. The chapter includes data up to 2023 and tracks trends in tax and non-tax revenue since 2010.
Revenue Statistics in Asia and the Pacific 2025
Personal Income Taxation in Asia and the Pacific
Abstract
This edition of Revenue Statistics in Asia and the Pacific provides comprehensive data on public revenues in economies across the Asia-Pacific region up to 2023. After increasing substantially as a share of GDP over the course of 2021 and 2022, tax revenue growth across the region slowed down in 2023 amid an uneven economic performance. Despite a strong rebound in East Asia fuelled by the lifting of pandemic-related restrictions in China and a marginal acceleration in Central Asia, economic growth slowed in Southeast Asia in 2023 due to weak external demand. On average across the Pacific sub-region, a rebound in tourism was partly offset by an economic slowdown in natural resource-dependent economies (ADB, 2024[1]).
This report presents detailed, internationally comparable data on tax revenues in 37 economies: Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, People’s Republic of China (hereafter “China”), the Cook Islands, Fiji, Georgia, Hong Kong (China)1, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Korea, Kyrgyzstan2, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (hereafter Lao PDR), Malaysia, the Maldives, the Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tokelau, Vanuatu and Viet Nam.
It also provides information on non-tax revenues for Bhutan, Cambodia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Hong Kong (China), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, the Maldives, the Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Nauru, Niue, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tokelau, Vanuatu and Viet Nam.
Chapter 1 examines key tax indicators: the tax-to-GDP ratio, the tax structure and the share of tax revenue by level of government. It also analyses the level and structure of non-tax revenue for selected economies. This discussion is supplemented by the comparative tables in Chapter 3 and detailed information for each economy in Chapters 4 and 5. A Special Feature in Chapter 2 discusses personal income taxation in developing Asia and the Pacific.
The tax-to-GDP ratio measures tax revenue (including social security contributions [SSCs] paid to the general government) as a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP). The Asia-Pacific average tax-to-GDP ratio, which represents the unweighted average of the economies included in this publication, was 19.6% in 2023, an increase of 0.1 percentage points (p.p.) from the previous year.3
In 2023, tax-to-GDP ratios in Asia and the Pacific ranged from 7.3% in Bangladesh to 35.3% in Niue (Figure 1.1). Sixteen of the 37 economies had tax-to-GDP ratios above the Asia-Pacific average, and almost all economies in the publication had lower ratios than the OECD average of 33.9% with the exceptions of Japan, New Zealand and Niue.
Nine of the 23 Asian economies covered in this report had a tax-to-GDP ratio above the regional average: Japan (34.4%, 2022 figure), Korea (28.9%), Mongolia (24.7%), Georgia (24.4%), the Maldives (23.6%), Armenia (23.5%), Azerbaijan (23.0%), Kyrgyzstan (21.9%) and China (20.4%). Meanwhile, five of the twelve Pacific Islands4 included in this report (the Cook Islands, Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Niue and Samoa) recorded tax-to-GDP ratios above the regional average and seven were below (Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tokelau and Vanuatu).
Figure 1.1 distinguishes between tax-to-GDP ratios inclusive and exclusive of SSCs. Among Asian economies, tax-to-GDP ratios exclusive of SSCs ranged from 9.8% in Sri Lanka to 22.5% in Armenia in 2023 (excluding Bhutan, Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, the Maldives and Pakistan, for which SSC data are not available, as well as Bangladesh, Georgia, Hong Kong (China) and Singapore. The Marshall Islands, which is the only Pacific economy that levies SSCs, had a tax-to-GDP ratio without SSCs of 13.2%.
Percentage of GDP
Note: The figures do not include sub-national tax revenue for Azerbaijan, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Maldives, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Viet Nam as the data are not available.
SSC data for Bhutan, Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, Pakistan and the Maldives are not available.
The averages for Africa (36 countries), Asia-Pacific (37 economies), LAC (26 Latin American and Caribbean countries) and the OECD (38 countries) are unweighted.
Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand are included in the OECD average and in the average for Asian and Pacific economies. Data for Australia, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and the OECD average are taken from Revenue Statistics 2024 (OECD, 2024[2]).
Data for 2022 are used for the Africa average, Australia and Japan, as data for 2023 are not available.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on Table 3.1 in Chapter 3.
Changes in tax revenue in 2023 and over time
A slowdown in Southeast Asian and Pacific economies attributable to weaker external demand and lower global commodity prices weighed on growth in the Asia-Pacific region as a whole in 2023 (Table 1.1), with consequences for revenue mobilisation across the region (ADB, 2024). However, this was partly offset by an increase in international tourism, notably in the Pacific Islands. This section presents the changes in nominal tax revenues and nominal GDP in Asia and the Pacific between 2022 and 2023 as well as changes in the tax-to-GDP ratio over this period (Box 1.1).
Changes in nominal tax revenue and GDP
Between 2022 and 2023, nominal tax revenue increased in 28 of the 35 economies covered in this report for which data for 2023 are available. It decreased in Timor-Leste (-68.5%), Nauru (-30.5%), Korea (-6.7%), Cambodia (-4.2%), Viet Nam (-4.0%), Hong Kong (China) (-1.7%) and the Marshall Islands (-1.4%). Meanwhile nominal GDP5 declined in Azerbaijan, Singapore, Timor-Leste and Tokelau. In 22 of the 35 economies, nominal tax revenue increased by more than nominal GDP, resulting in a higher tax-to-GDP ratio. Nominal tax revenues declined despite higher nominal GDP in Cambodia, Hong Kong (China), Korea, Nauru, the Marshall Islands and Viet Nam. Meanwhile, nominal tax revenues increased in Azerbaijan, Singapore and Tokelau despite a contraction of their economies in 2023.
Year-on-year, percentage change
Note: Data for Korea and New Zealand are taken from Revenue Statistics 2024 (OECD, 2024[2]).
Australia and Japan are excluded from the graph as data for 2023 are not available.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on Table 3.1 and 3.17 in Chapter 3.
Changes in tax-to-GDP ratios between 2022 and 2023
On average, the tax-to-GDP ratio in the Asia-Pacific region was 19.6% in 2023, 0.1 p.p. higher than in 2022 and 0.3 p.p. higher than in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. In comparison, the average tax-to-GDP ratio declined by 0.1 p.p. to 33.9% in the OECD (OECD, 2024[2]) and by 0.2 p.p. to 21.3% in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) between 2022 and 2023 (OECD et al., 2025[3]).
Between 2022 and 2023, the tax-to-GDP ratio increased in 23 of the 35 economies in this publication for which data for 2023 are available, while the remaining 12 economies reported decreases in their tax-to-GDP ratio (Figure 1.3).
Eleven economies reported an increase in their tax-to-GDP ratio equal to or larger than 1 p.p. between 2022 and 2023: Niue (4.5 p.p.), the Cook Islands (3.4 p.p.), Azerbaijan (3.4 p.p.), the Maldives (3.2 p.p.), Vanuatu (2.8 p.p.), Fiji (2.5 p.p.), Tokelau (2.4 p.p.), Sri Lanka (2.0 p.p.), Singapore (1.9 p.p.), Papua New Guinea and Malaysia (both 1.0 p.p.).
By contrast, seven economies reported decreases equal to or larger than 1 p.p.: Timor-Leste (10.2 p.p.), Nauru (10.1 p.p.), Korea (3.1 p.p.), Viet Nam (2.0 p.p.), Cambodia (1.7 p.p.), Hong Kong (China) (1.1 p.p.) and the Marshall Islands (1.0 p.p.). If Timor-Leste and Nauru are excluded from the sample, the Asia-Pacific average tax-to-GDP ratio would have risen by 0.7 p.p. in 2023.
Percentage point (p.p.)
Note: Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand are included in the OECD average and in the average for Asian and Pacific economies.
Data for Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand are taken from Revenue Statistics 2024 (OECD, 2024[2]).
Data for the change between 2021 and 2022 are used for Australia, Japan and the Africa average.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on Table 3.1 in Chapter 3.
Changes in tax-to-GDP ratios between 2022 and 2023 by tax category
Between 2022 and 2023, an increase in revenue from value added taxes (VAT) as a share of GDP was offset by a decline of similar magnitude in revenue from income taxes (around 0.4 p.p. in both cases). There were small increases in revenue from other major tax revenue categories on average across the region in 2023 (Figure 1.4).
Percentage point (p.p.)
Note: Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand are included in the OECD average and in the average for Asian and Pacific economies.
Data for Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand are taken from Revenue Statistics 2024 (OECD, 2024[2]).
Data for the change between 2021 and 2022 are used for Australia, Japan, the Africa average and the OECD average.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on OECD (2025[4]).
This sub-section examines the largest changes in tax-to-GDP ratios across Asia and the Pacific in 2023.
The tax-to-GDP ratio in the Pacific economy of Niue recorded the strongest growth among Asia-Pacific economies in 2023, at 4.5 p.p. The increase was mainly driven by a 5.5 p.p. increase in VAT revenue and a 1.7 p.p. increase in revenue from other taxes on goods and services, including customs duties and the departure tax, as Niue’s tourism sector recovered from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (Government of Niue, 2023[5]).
The Cook Islands’ tax-to-GDP ratio rose by 3.4 p.p. in 2023. Income taxes and VAT were the two biggest contributors to the increase, rising by 2.3 p.p. and 3.0 p.p. respectively, due to increased business activity and higher consumer spending (Government of the Cook Islands, 2023[6]).
Azerbaijan recorded a 3.4 p.p. increase in tax revenues as a share of GDP in 2023. Most of the growth was generated by taxes on goods and services (1.9 p.p.), of which VAT was the main contributor (1.4 p.p.). In addition, SSCs increased by 1.0 p.p. SSCs and VAT revenues have grown steadily since 2020 as the government improved tax administration and broadened the tax base (IMF, 2024[7]).
In 2023, the Maldives raised the rates for the Goods and Services Tax (classified as VAT according to the OECD Interpretative Guide) from 6% to 8% for the general sector and from 12% to 16% for the tourism sector, which drove a 2.8 p.p. increase in revenue from VAT. This increase, together with a rise of 0.6 p.p. in revenue from income taxes, was behind the 3.2 p.p. rise in the country’s tax-to-GDP ratio in 2023.
Tax revenues in Nauru fell by 10.1 p.p. in 2023 due almost entirely to a decline in revenue from income taxes (9.8 p.p.), in particular the Business Tax whose revenue fell by more than half in 2023. Business Tax revenues were mainly derived from activities of the Regional Processing Centre (RPC), which has been scaled down in recent years (IMF, 2023[8]).
Tax revenue as a share of GDP fell by 10.2 p.p. in Timor-Leste in 2023, driven by a 12.5 p.p. decline in revenue from two national tax items: the Corporate Income Tax and the Additional Profit Tax (APT), which is related to petroleum and mineral revenues as global commodity prices fell sharply in 2023 (OECD et al., 2025[3]).
The tax-to-GDP ratios shown in Revenue Statistics in Asia and the Pacific 2025 express aggregate tax revenue as a percentage of GDP. The ratio depends on its denominator (GDP) and its numerator (tax revenue). Both the numerator and the denominator may be subject to historical revision.
Taxes are defined as compulsory, unrequited payments to general government. In the OECD classification, taxes are classified by the base of the tax and include taxes on incomes and profits, compulsory social security contributions (SSCs) paid to the general government, taxes on payroll and workforce, taxes on property, taxes on goods and services and other taxes.
The numerator (tax revenue)
This publication uses tax revenue figures that are submitted by focal points or published annually by national Ministries of Finance, tax administrations or statistical offices. Historical tax revenue data are subject to revision each year, with more important revisions in more recent years. Past figures may also change from one edition to the next when new data are obtained.
In 21 Asian and Pacific economies, the reporting year coincides with the calendar year. The remaining 16 economies report on a fiscal year basis:
The fiscal year in Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Cook Islands, Nauru, Niue, New Zealand, Pakistan, Samoa and Tokelau runs from July to June. This means that reporting year 2023 corresponds to Q3/2023-Q2/2024.
The fiscal year in Hong Kong (China), Singapore, Sri Lanka and Japan cover April to March while in Thailand and the Marshall Islands, it covers October to September. The reporting year 2023 spans Q2/2023-Q1/2024 and Q4/2022-Q3/2023, respectively.
The denominator (GDP)
The GDP figures used in this publication are sourced from OECD National Accounts data for Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand; national sources for Armenia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Niue, Philippines, Tokelau and Viet Nam; the Asian Development Bank's Key Indicators Database for the Solomon Islands; World Economic Outlook data published by the IMF for Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Hong Kong (China), Lao PDR, Nauru, Pakistan, Samoa, Singapore, Thailand and Vanuatu; Pacific Community (SPC) data for the Marshall Islands; a combination of national sources and IMF data for Timor-Leste, Kiribati and Papua New Guinea; and a combination of OECD National Accounts data and IMF data for Georgia.
Using these GDP figures ensures maximum consistency across the economies, as well as international comparability. GDP figures may also be revised and updated to reflect better data sources and improved estimation procedures, or to move towards new internationally agreed guidelines for measuring the value of GDP.
Types of taxes levied and data availability
There is a large variation in the types of tax levied by the economies included in the report. The majority of the 37 economies collect revenue from taxes on income, with two exceptions: Tokelau does not levy corporate income tax (CIT) and Vanuatu levies neither personal income tax (PIT) nor CIT. For Nauru and Pakistan, it is not possible to distinguish between revenue from PIT and CIT, so revenue from income taxes is categorised under “1300 Unallocable between 1100 and 1200”.
While VAT plays an increasingly important role in many economies, Bhutan, Hong Kong (China), Malaysia, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, the Solomon Islands and Tokelau do not levy VAT. The OECD Interpretative Guide (see Annex A) defines SSCs as compulsory payments that confer entitlement to receive a future social benefit. While most economies in Asia levy SSCs, none of the Pacific economies do except the Marshall Islands.
Data for 2023 was not available for Australia and Japan when this report was written. When 2023 data for these countries is mentioned, this refers to the fiscal year 2022 (starting in April 2022 for Japan and in July 2022 for Australia) instead of fiscal year 2023, and changes between 2022 and 2023 refer to changes between FY2021 and FY2022 for both countries.
Between 2010 and 2023, the tax-to-GDP ratio increased in 22 of the 37 economies in this publication and declined in the rest (Figure 1.5).6 The largest increases were observed in the Maldives (14.8 p.p.), Niue (13.1 p.p.), Nauru (9.6 p.p., since 2014), Japan (8.2 p.p., 2010-2022), Cambodia (7.1 p.p.) and Korea (6.5 p.p.). Of these 22 economies, only Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kiribati, Pakistan (since 2011), Singapore, the Solomon Islands, Tokelau and Vanuatu reported changes smaller than 2 p.p.
The largest decreases between 2010 and 2023 were observed in Timor-Leste (15.2 p.p.), Kazakhstan (4.3 p.p.), China (3.5 p.p., excluding SSCs), the Marshall Islands and Viet Nam (both 3.1 p.p.). For the other economies where the tax-to-GDP ratio declined over this period, the drop was smaller than 2 p.p.
Percentage point (p.p.)
Note: Data for Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand are taken from Revenue Statistics 2024 (OECD, 2024[2]).
For Australia and Japan, the graph shows changes between 2010-22 and 2021-22 as data for 2023 were not available for both countries.
The tax-to-GDP ratio for China is shown exclusive of SSCs. Data for Nauru and Azerbaijan are only available from 2014 onwards, for Timor-Leste from 2012 onwards and for Pakistan from 2011 onwards.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on Table 3.1 in Chapter 3.
Among the 37 economies included in this publication, two distinct sub-groups can be identified: one subgroup of twelve Pacific Island economies and another comprising eight members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The twelve Pacific Island economies included in this publication are the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tokelau and Vanuatu, which together comprise the Pacific Islands (12) average. Despite their diversity, Pacific Island economies share common characteristics such as remoteness, small populations, limited economic diversification and exposure to natural disasters and climate change (ADB, 2016[9]).
The second sub-regional group includes the eight ASEAN member states in this publication. Founded in 1967, ASEAN is a regional organisation that promotes economic, political and social collaboration amongst its ten member states and within the region (ASEAN, 2025[10]). The eight ASEAN members included in this publication are Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam; they comprise the ASEAN (8) average.7
The Pacific Islands generally had higher tax-to-GDP ratios than the ASEAN (8) economies in 2023 (Figure 1.6). Tax-to-GDP ratios in the former grouping ranged from 9.6% in Timor-Leste to 35.3% in Niue, with an average of 20.7%. Across the ASEAN (8), tax-to-GDP ratios ranged from 11.0% in Lao PDR to 17.9% in the Philippines in 2023, with an average of 14.3%.
Note: Data are only available from 2014 onwards for Nauru and from 2012 onwards for Timor-Leste.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on Table 3.1 in Chapter 3.
Tax-to-GDP ratios in both groups have increased since 2010, with a more moderate growth for the ASEAN (8) economies (Figure 1.6). Changes in tax-to-GDP ratios between 2010 and 2023 ranged from a fall of 15.2 p.p. in Timor-Leste to an increase of 13.1 p.p. in Niue among the Pacific Islands, while changes in the tax-to-GDP ratio in ASEAN economies ranged from a fall of 3.1 p.p. in Viet Nam to an increase of 7.1 p.p. in Cambodia.
Between 2022 and 2023, tax-to-GDP ratio on average remained largely unchanged across ASEAN economies while it decreased by 0.3 p.p. for Pacific Islands. About half of the ASEAN (8) economies increased their tax-to-GDP ratio between 2022 and 2023, with the largest uptick occurring in Singapore (1.9 p.p.) and biggest decline in Viet Nam (-2.0 p.p.).
The majority of the Pacific Islands reported tax-to-GDP growth in 2023, driven partly by a strong rebound in international tourism (Table 1.2). However, Timor-Leste and Nauru suffered significant contractions (-10.2 p.p. and -10.1 p.p. respectively) due to falls in global commodity prices and reduced activities of the Regional Processing Centre (RPC). If Timor-Leste and Nauru were excluded from the Pacific Islands average, the sub-region’s average tax-to-GDP ratio would have increased by 1.7 p.p. from 20.3% to 22.0% of GDP in 2023.
Source: SPC (2025[11]), Pacific Data Hub (database), https://pacificdata.org/ (accessed on 8 June 2025).
Regional differences are also reflected in average tax structures (Figure 1.7). While revenue from taxes on goods and services plays an important role in both sub-regions (45.4% of total tax revenues in the ASEAN (8) and 59.4% in the Pacific Islands), the composition of taxes on goods and services differs.
Revenues from VAT contributed a smaller share of total tax revenue in 2023 at 22.1% in the ASEAN (8) economies versus 24.7% in the Pacific Islands on average, while both are lower than the Asia-Pacific average of 25.8%.
Revenue from other taxes on goods and services accounted for a relatively large share of total tax revenue in both the ASEAN (8) and the Pacific Islands, at 23.3% and 34.7% respectively, of which the majority came from excises (13.1%) for the ASEAN (8) economies and from customs duties (11.5%) and excises (12.0%) for the Pacific Island economies.
Another difference is the relative importance of personal income taxes (PIT) and corporate income taxes (CIT). In the Pacific Islands, PIT accounted for a larger share of total tax revenues than CIT (18.8% and 11.5% of total taxation, respectively). In contrast, ASEAN (8) economies relied more on CIT than PIT. On average, CIT accounted for 27.4% of total tax revenues for the ASEAN (8) economies while PIT amounted to less than half that proportion in 2023, at 12.7%.
Note: Asia-Pacific average: Unweighted average of the 37 Asian and Pacific economies included in this publication.
ASEAN (8) average: Unweighted average of 8 ASEAN economies (Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam).
Pacific Islands average: Unweighted average of 12 Pacific Island economies (the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tokelau and Vanuatu).
Source: Authors’ calculations based on OECD (2025[4]).
Structural factors affecting the tax-to-GDP ratio
Structural factors are a key determinant of economies’ tax-to-GDP ratio. These include the importance of agriculture, openness to trade and the size of the informal economy. For example, in many economies with a large agricultural sector, taxation can be challenging as it is associated with informality, low incomes and low productivity (Mawejje and Sebudde, 2019[12]). In addition, the agricultural sector may benefit from tax exemptions. For example, Malaysia grants an Investment Tax Allowance on capital expenditure and income tax to companies producing certain agricultural products or engaged in certain agricultural activities (MIDA, 2019[13]). The common challenges that Small Island Developing States (SIDS) confront, such as remoteness, exposure to natural disasters and limited economic diversification, also influence tax levels and structures in these islands.
In addition to structural factors, tax policy and tax administration settings also strongly influence the level of tax revenue. These include the size of the tax base, governance and administrative capacity within tax authorities, the level of popular satisfaction with public services and tax morale (i.e., the willingness of people to pay taxes) (OECD, 2019[14]). For example, Aizenman et al. (2019[15]) found that tax-to-GDP ratios in Asia are positively correlated with government effectiveness and institutional quality. Finally, tax-to-GDP ratios tend to be higher in high-income economies, although the relationship is not direct and is less pronounced at lower levels of income due to the influence of other factors (Figure 1.8).
The relationship between GDP per capita and tax levels across Asian and Pacific economies in this publication is less direct than that observed across the LAC region or in OECD countries. Fifteen Asian and Pacific economies (Armenia, Azerbaijan, China, Fiji, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Maldives, the Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Nauru, the Philippines, Samoa, Thailand and Viet Nam) have broadly similar GDP per capita and tax-to-GDP ratios as the majority of LAC countries (Figure 1.8). The four OECD countries included in this publication (Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand) have higher tax-to-GDP ratios than all the other Asia-Pacific economies and higher per capita income than most of them8. Finally, Singapore and Hong Kong (China) have relatively low tax-to-GDP ratios, even though they have high GDP per capita in the region.
The high GDP per capita in Singapore results from significant inward flows of foreign direct investment, while the relatively low tax-to-GDP ratio is explained by lower income tax rates (particularly on corporate income) and VAT rates relative to other Asian and Pacific economies (UNESCAP, 2014[16]; UNCTAD, 2012[17]). Similar factors contribute to Hong Kong (China)’s relatively high GDP per capita paired with a low tax-to-GDP ratio (Lanzafame and Timbang, 2023[18]).
Note: The y-axis is on a logarithmic scale.
Data for 2022 are used for Australia, Japan and all African countries.
The graph includes data for 36 African, 38 OECD, 25 Latin American and Caribbean and 34 Asian and Pacific economies. The Cook Islands, Cuba, Niue and Tokelau are excluded as GDP per capita data were unavailable for these economies.
Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand are shown as Asian and Pacific economies and OECD countries. Tax revenue data for Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand are taken from Revenue Statistics 2024 (OECD, 2024[2]).
The purchasing power parity (PPP) between two countries is the rate at which the currency of one country needs to be converted into that of a second country to ensure that a given amount of the first country’s currency will purchase the same volume of goods and services in the second country as it does in the first. The implied PPP conversion rate is expressed as national currency per current international dollar. An international dollar has the same purchasing power as the US dollar has in the United States. An international dollar is a hypothetical currency that is used as a means of translating and comparing costs from one country to the other using a common reference point, the US dollar (definitions derived from (IMF, 2019[19]) and (World Bank, 2025[20]).
Source: GDP per capita from World Economic Outlook, April 2025 (IMF, 2025[21]).
The second key indicator analysed in the Revenue Statistics publications is the tax structure, measured as the proportion of revenue from different tax types in total tax revenue in a given economy. Detailed information about the tax structure (sometimes known as the tax mix) is essential for policy analysis since different taxes have different economic and social effects and distributional impacts. The composition of tax revenue varies widely across Asia and the Pacific, reflecting different policy choices, economic structures and levels of development, tax administration capabilities and historical factors.
Tax categories as a percentage of total tax revenue
Within the Asia-Pacific region, tax structures varied greatly in 2023 (Figure 1.9). In 24 of the 37 economies, the main source of tax revenue was taxes on goods and services, while eleven economies obtained the largest share of tax revenue from income taxes. Japan and the Marshall Islands are the only economies where the greatest share of revenue was derived from SSCs in 2023. There were also notable differences between the ASEAN economies and the Pacific Islands in the publication, as discussed in Box 1.2.
Percentage of total tax revenue
Note: The averages for Africa (36 countries), for Asia-Pacific (37 economies), for LAC (26 Latin American and Caribbean countries) and the OECD (38 countries) are unweighted.
Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand are included in the OECD average and in the average for Asian and Pacific economies. Data for Australia, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and the OECD average are taken from Revenue Statistics 2024 (OECD, 2024[2]).
Data for 2022 are used for the Africa average, Australia, Japan and the OECD average.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on OECD (2025[4]).
In 2023, income taxes were the largest source of revenue for Australia (2022 figure), Bhutan, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Singapore and Tokelau. Among these eleven economies, the share of income tax in total tax revenue ranged from 34.2% in Korea to 67.6% in Malaysia.
Revenue from personal income tax (PIT) exceeded that from corporate income tax (CIT) in four of the eleven economies (Australia, Korea, New Zealand and Tokelau) while CIT revenue accounted for a larger share of total revenue in the remaining economies.9 The relative importance of CIT and PIT within income tax revenue also varied between Asian and Pacific economies (Figure 1.10). In most Asian economies included in this publication, the share of revenue from CIT as a percentage of total taxation was higher than the share of revenue from PIT in 2023, except for Armenia, Georgia, Japan, Korea and the Philippines. In contrast, all Pacific economies except Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste reported higher shares of revenue from PIT than CIT (see Box 1.2).
SSCs generated a relatively small proportion of revenue for most Asian and Pacific economies, with a few exceptions. SSCs accounted for the largest share of total tax revenue in 2023 in the Marshall Islands (47.6%), the only Pacific economy that levies SSCs, and Japan (38.5% in 2022) while they also amounted to a significant proportion of tax revenue in China (31.5%), Viet Nam (29.9%), Korea (29.2%), Azerbaijan (22.3%), Mongolia (21.8%) and the Philippines (15.6%).
Taxes on goods and services were the main source of tax revenue in 24 economies including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, the Maldives, Mongolia, Niue, Pakistan, the Philippines, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vanuatu and Viet Nam in 2023, contributing between 39.3% (China) and 98.0% (Vanuatu) of total tax revenue.
Seventeen of these 24 economies received a larger share of revenue from VAT, ranging from 23.2% in the Philippines to 57.1% in the Cook Islands. In the remaining seven economies, taxes on goods and services other than VAT, such as excises and import duties, accounted for a larger share of total tax revenue than VAT. Revenue from other taxes on goods and services in these seven economies ranged from 25.2% of total tax revenue in Kazakhstan to 69.9% in the Solomon Islands.
On average, VAT accounted for a slightly larger share of total tax revenue (25.8%) than other taxes on goods and services (24.3%) in 2023 for 37 economies in Asia and the Pacific, below the average VAT shares of 27.0% in Africa (2022 figure) and 28.5% in the LAC region but larger than the average VAT share in the OECD (20.8%, 2022 figure). Box 1.3 discusses the VAT revenue ratio, a measure of the efficiency of VAT systems, for selected economies in Asia and the Pacific.
While VAT plays a more important role among taxes on goods and services in the region overall, taxes on other goods and services are a crucial source of tax revenues for Pacific economies (Figure 1.10). In 2023, taxes on other goods and services generated more revenues than VAT for half of the Pacific economies included in the publication, ranging from 12.3% of total tax revenue in Australia to 69.9% in the Solomon Islands. The high share in the Solomon Islands (which does not apply a VAT) was generated by the goods tax, the sales tax and export duties on various products, particularly logging.
Percentage of total taxation
Source: Authors’ calculations based on OECD (2025[4]).
This box describes the VAT revenue ratio (VRR) in selected Asian and Pacific economies in this publication. The VRR measures the difference between the VAT revenue that countries collect and what they would theoretically raise if VAT were applied at the standard rate to the entire potential tax base in a “pure” VAT regime and all revenues were collected. A VRR of 1 suggests no loss of VAT revenue as a consequence of exemptions, reduced rates, fraud, evasion or tax planning.
There was a wide disparity of VRRs in the Asia-Pacific region in 2022.10 Timor-Leste had the lowest VRR at 0.10 while New Zealand had the highest at 0.97 (Figure 1.11). Of the economies with available data in this publication, 15 economies (Cambodia, China, the Cook Islands, Georgia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, New Zealand, Samoa, Singapore, Thailand, Vanuatu and Viet Nam) had relatively high VRRs in 2022, above the OECD average of 0.58. This is partly because of the relatively broad-based VAT in some economies: for example, New Zealand did not have any reduced rates in 2022, while Singapore only exempts sales and leases of residential properties, the import and local supply of investment precious metals, and some financial services (IRAS, 2024[22]). Korea has a reduced rate on a limited number of products. In comparison, many other OECD countries have one or more reduced rates (OECD, 2024[23]), which partly explains the lower average VRR in the OECD region as a whole.
The VRR can be inflated by several factors and needs to be interpreted with caution. One factor behind a high VRR may be exemptions on products and services relating to intermediate consumption, which can lead to a cascading effect that increases VAT revenue (IMF, 2017[24]). Another reason the VRR may be inflated is if refund processes do not work correctly, which may discourage taxpayers from claiming their VAT refunds, resulting in artificially higher VAT revenue and VRR (OECD, 2024[23]). Regarding New Zealand, in addition to the limited number of reduced rates and exemptions, the VRR is inflated by the treatment of public services as GST taxable (OECD, 2024[23])
In addition, the interpretation of the VRR is also more difficult for economies relying on tourism, such as many Pacific Islands. These economies may record a high VRR for methodological reasons: purchases by non-residents may not be included in final consumption expenditure (the denominator) whereas VAT on these purchases is included in total VAT revenue (the numerator) (Keen, 2013[25]).
The VRR may also be deflated by the absence of rules and mechanisms for collecting VAT on inbound business-to-consumer (B2C) supplies resulting from increases in digital trade. To date, over 100 jurisdictions have adopted rules for the application of VAT to inbound supplies of services and intangibles according to the OECD standards and in over 30 of them to imports of low-value goods.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Australia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and Singapore already collected VAT on inbound digital supplies in 2020. Since then, they have been followed by Azerbaijan, Georgia, Thailand, Armenia, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Vietnam and Kyrgyzstan. Regimes for the taxation of imports of low-value goods have also been introduced in Australia (2018), New Zealand (2019), Kazakhstan (2022) and Singapore (2023).
Notes: Data for OECD countries (Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand) and the OECD average are taken from Revenue Statistics 2024 (OECD, 2024[2]).
Philippines: The VRR measure is currently underestimated as the VAT revenue collected at customs is not accounted for in total VAT revenue in this publication (this revenue could not be distinguished from revenue from other import duties and is currently classified under heading 5120 (taxes on specific goods and services).
Sources: National sources and Consumption Tax Trends (OECD, 2024[23]) for VAT rates, World Economic Outlook, April 2025 (IMF, 2025[21]) and OECD National Accounts (OECD, 2025[26]) for final consumption expenditure and country tables in Chapter 4 of this report for VAT revenue.
Average tax structures across Asia-Pacific, Africa and the LAC region shared some similarities in 2023. Revenue from goods and services accounted for a similar share of total tax revenue in Africa, Asia-Pacific and the LAC region, at 51.3% (2022 figure), 50.2% and 47.0% respectively – significantly above the OECD average of 31.5% (2022 figure).
VAT was the largest contributor to tax revenue in Asia and the Pacific among major tax types, accounting for 25.8% of total tax revenue. The share was smaller than Africa and LAC region (27.0%, 2022 figure, and 28.5% respectively) but well above the OECD average level of 20.8%. Taxes from other goods and services generated a similar share of total tax revenue in Asia-Pacific (24.3%) and in Africa (24.4%, 2022 figure) (Figure 1.12), which was higher than the LAC average (18.5%) and more than twice the OECD average (10.8%, 2022 figure).
On average, income tax revenue in Asia-Pacific (38.6%) accounted for a similar share of total taxation as in Africa (39.3%). In Asia-Pacific, revenue from PIT accounted for 16.5% of total tax revenue, similar to the Africa average of 16.2% (2022 figure), above the LAC average (9.5%) and below the OECD average (23.6%, 2022 figure). CIT revenue accounted for a larger share of total tax revenue in Asia-Pacific, on average, at 19.5%, which was the second-highest among the regional averages: CIT revenue accounted for 21.2% in Africa (2022 figure), 18.7% in the LAC region and 12.0% in OECD countries (2022 figure).
In contrast, the Asia-Pacific region had the second-lowest share of SSCs among the four regional averages: they contributed 7.7% of total tax revenue in Asia-Pacific, 7.4% in Africa (2022 figure), 16.6% in the LAC region and 24.8% of total tax revenue in the OECD (2022 figure).
Percentage of total tax revenue and as a percentage of GDP
Note: The averages for Africa (36 countries), for Asia-Pacific (37 economies), for LAC (26 Latin American and Caribbean countries) and the OECD (38 countries) are unweighted.
Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand are included in the OECD average and in the average for Asian and Pacific economies. Data for Australia, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and the OECD average are taken from Revenue Statistics 2024 (OECD, 2024[2]).
Data for 2022 are used for the Africa average and the OECD average.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on OECD (2025[4]).
Revenue by tax category in 2023
Tax structures expressed as a percentage of GDP varied across the economies in this publication in 2023. Revenue from income taxes amounted to 7.4% of GDP in Asia-Pacific on average, ranging from 2.5% of GDP in Bangladesh to 19.9% of GDP in New Zealand. Vanuatu is the only economy in the publication that does not levy any form of income tax, while the Marshall Islands and Tokelau do not levy CIT. For Nauru and Pakistan, it is not possible to distinguish between PIT and CIT revenue.
PIT revenue in 2023 ranged from 0.4% of GDP in the Maldives to 14.3% of GDP in New Zealand in 2023. Australia, New Zealand, Tokelau and Niue recorded the highest levels of PIT revenue as a share of GDP in 2023 (Figure 1.13). Revenue from PIT amounted to 14.3% of GDP in New Zealand, 11.9% of GDP in Australia (2022 figure), 10.8% of GDP in Tokelau and 10.0% of GDP in Niue, exceeding the OECD average (8.2% of GDP, 2022 figure). In the other Pacific economies covered in this publication, revenues from PIT were around 3.0% of GDP and close to the Asia-Pacific average of 3.6%, except in Timor-Leste (0.9%), Fiji (1.9%) and Vanuatu (which does not have a PIT). In Asia, four economies reported revenue from PIT above 5% of GDP: Georgia (7.5%), Japan (6.5%, 2022 figure), Armenia (5.9%) and Korea (5.7%).
Revenue from CIT ranged from 1.6% of GDP in Lao PDR to 6.8% of GDP in Papua New Guinea in 2023 excluding Niue which reported CIT revenue outflows and several economies which had no CIT revenue data (Nauru, Pakistan, the Marshall Islands, Tokelau and Vanuatu). In 2023, sixteen out of 37 Asia-Pacific economies received CIT revenues that amounted to a larger share of GDP than the OECD average of 3.9% (2022 figure). On average, CIT generated revenue equivalent to 3.4% of GDP in Asia and the Pacific.
SSCs played a limited role in most economies in Asia and the Pacific, generating revenue amounting to 1.8% of GDP on average in 2023, significantly below the LAC average (3.6% of GDP) and the OECD average (8.7% of GDP in 2022) but close to the Africa average (1.4% of GDP). Seventeen out of 37 economies in this publication, including all the Pacific economies except the Marshall Islands, do not levy SSCs, while data were not available for six economies.11 In the rest of the economies, SSCs as a share of GDP ranged from 0.1% of GDP in Sri Lanka to 13.3% of GDP (2022 figure) in Japan in 2023. The highest levels of SSCs as a share of GDP were reported by Japan (13.3%, 2022 figure), the Marshall Islands (12.0%), Korea (8.4%), China (6.4%), Mongolia (5.4%), Azerbaijan (5.1%) and Viet Nam (5.0%).
Percentage of GDP
Note: The averages for Africa (36 countries), for Asia-Pacific (37 economies), for LAC (26 Latin American and Caribbean countries) and the OECD (38 countries) are unweighted.
Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand are included in the OECD average and in the average for Asian and Pacific economies. Data for Australia, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and the OECD average are taken from Revenue Statistics 2024 (OECD, 2024[2]).
Data from 2022 are used for the Africa average, Australia, Japan and the OECD average.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on OECD (2025[4]).
Revenue from taxes on goods and services played an important role in all economies included in the report, exceeding 10% of GDP in seven Pacific economies and five Asian economies. Revenues from taxes on goods and services amounted to 9.6% of GDP on average across the 37 Asian and Pacific economies in 2023, below the OECD average of 10.6% of GDP (2022 figure) and ranging from 1.6% of GDP in Hong Kong (China) to 25.4% of GDP in Niue. Pacific economies tend to have higher revenues from taxes on goods and services, with eight out of fourteen of them reporting revenues above 10% of GDP in 2023, including Niue (25.4%), Samoa (19.0%), Vanuatu (18.2%), the Cook Islands (17.8%), Fiji (14.0%), the Solomon Islands (13.5%), New Zealand (12.0%) and Kiribati (10.4%). Among the 23 Asian economies, only five reported revenues from taxes on goods and services in excess of 10% of GDP: the Maldives (18.4%), Kyrgyzstan (17.0%), Georgia (13.1%), Armenia (12.4%) and Mongolia (10.5%).
Changes in tax-to-GDP ratios between 2010 and 2023 by tax category
Between 2010 and 2023, declines in revenue from CIT and from other taxes on goods and services were the major drivers of the decrease in tax-to-GDP ratios observed in many economies where this occurred, whereas a range of tax types accounted for increases observed elsewhere. These changes reflect diversity in terms of policy measures and economic development in Asian and Pacific economies over this period.
Of the fifteen economies where the tax-to-GDP ratio declined between 2010 and 2023, lower CIT revenue contributed to the declines in ten (Figure 1.14). The largest declines were in Timor-Leste (16.3 p.p.) and Kazakhstan (2.3 p.p.), reflecting falls in natural resource prices (and production of natural resources, in the case of Timor-Leste).
Twenty-two economies recorded an increase in their tax-to-GDP ratio between 2010 and 2023. The largest increases were observed in the Maldives (14.8 p.p.), Niue (13.1 p.p.), Nauru (9.6 p.p., since 2014), Japan (8.2 p.p., 2010-2022), Cambodia (7.1 p.p.) and Korea (6.5 p.p.). Reforms to tax policy and administration were the main driver of the increases in three of the four economies:
The Maldives has undertaken major tax reforms since 2011 to increase tax revenues. Key policy changes have included the introduction of a goods and services tax in 2011, a business tax, and a corporate profit tax (ADB, 2017[27]). The tax-to-GDP ratio increased by 2 p.p. between 2010 and 2011, mainly due to the introduction of the VAT. Subsequent rate increases in these three taxes have contributed to higher tax revenue (ADB, 2017[27]). The Maldives also introduced a personal income tax in 2020 (Maldives Inland Revenue Authority, 2020[28]).
Since 2017, Niue started to collect consumption tax on imports and the amount kept growing. In 2023, revenue from the tax more than quadrupled and was one of the largest contributors to Niue’s growth in tax revenue.
Since 2014, Nauru’s tax collection has benefited from the introduction of an employment and services tax and a business profits tax, as well as improvements in customs and tax administration (IMF, 2020[29]).
Cambodia has implemented various administrative and regulatory reforms under the long-term Public Financial Management Reform Programme to improve the government’s finance system. Reforms aimed at making tax administration more efficient have included the digitalisation of taxpayer services, simplification of procedures, improvements of audits and training for staff, as well as the revision of some tax rates to ease compliance (Royal Government of Cambodia, 2018[30]), (OECD, 2018[31]), (World Bank, 2019[32]).
In Japan and Korea, the tax-to-GDP ratio was particularly low in 2010 as a result of the Global Financial Crisis and recovered in subsequent years.
Percentage point (p.p.)
Note: Data for 2022 are used for Australia and Japan.
Data for Azerbaijan and Nauru are only available from 2014 onwards, for Timor-Leste from 2012 onwards and for Pakistan from 2011 onwards. The tax-to-GDP ratios for China are shown exclusive of SSCs.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on OECD (2025[4]).
Environmental taxes in Asia and the Pacific
Environmentally related taxes,12 and price-based policy instruments more generally, play an increasingly significant role in many countries to support a transition to sustainable and low-carbon economic growth. By incorporating a price signal into consumer and producer decisions, these taxes give effect to the polluter-pays principle and encourage businesses and households to consider the environmental costs of their behaviour.
Although environmentally related tax revenue13 (ERTR) is not separately identified in the standard OECD tax classification, it can be identified through the detailed list of specific taxes included for most countries within this overarching classification. It is on this basis that this revenue is included in the OECD Policy Instruments for the Environment (PINE) database (OECD, 2025[33]).14
Examination of taxes for the 26 Asian and Pacific economies for which information is available demonstrates that revenue from environmentally related taxes as a share of GDP ranged from 0.01% in Papua New Guinea to 2.4% in the Solomon Islands in 2023 (Figure 1.15). On average, ERTR amounted to 0.8% of GDP in the Asia-Pacific region in 2023.15
Percentage of GDP
Note: It has not been possible to identify environmentally related tax revenue for Cambodia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Indonesia, Kiribati, Niue, Samoa, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tokelau and Vanuatu due to data availability issues. Data for 2022 are used for the Africa average and Australia. The average value displayed for an aggregate may not be exactly equal to the value calculated based on data from individual countries due to adjustments made for preventing jumps and breaks in the data series.
Sources: Restricted ERTR database based on PINE database (OECD, 2025[33]).
ERTR in the Solomon Islands is particularly high relative to other Asian and Pacific economies and the OECD average, due in large part to its export duties, particularly on timber. The next-highest levels of ERTR as a share of GDP in the region were observed in Pakistan and Lao PDR (both 1.3%), Japan and Georgia (both 1.2%) and Kazakhstan and the Philippines (both 1.1%).
Asian and Pacific economies relied on a range of bases for their ERTR in 2023:
In Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong (China), Kyrgyzstan, the Maldives, Nauru, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, all ERTR came from transport taxes (registration or road use of motor vehicles or departure taxes). These also accounted for the majority of ERTR in Malaysia, Mongolia and China (90.5%, 90.3% and 55.6%, respectively).
In other Asian and Pacific economies, ERTR was principally raised via taxes on energy (most commonly from diesel and petrol excises). They represented the full sum of ERTR in Korea, the Marshall Islands and Viet Nam, and accounted for over 60% of ERTR in Bhutan, Georgia, Japan, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore and Sri Lanka.
The remaining economies mainly levied ERTR from resource taxes. Armenia, Lao PDR and the Solomon Islands relied entirely on resource taxes while they contributed 54.4% of Kazakhstan’s ERTR in 2023.
There are notable differences in the composition of ERTR in Asian and Pacific economies compared with African, LAC and OECD countries. In 2023, revenue from energy taxes, transport taxes and resource taxes generated similar shares of total ERTR in the Asia-Pacific region (37.6%, 30.6% and 28.0% respectively), whereas energy taxes accounted for the majority of ERTR in other regions (69.5% in the OECD, 67.4% in Africa [2022 figures] and 55.1% in the LAC region).
In general, the use of taxation to address environmental issues is limited in the region compared with the OECD and there is scope to increase use of such instruments. The under-utilisation of environmental taxes in the Asia-Pacific region needs to be understood in the context of the extensive use of fossil fuel subsidies. Reforming energy subsidies is considered by ADB (2016[34]) as “one of the most important policy challenges for developing Asian economies”. UNESCAP (2016[35]) recommends that governments gradually phase out energy subsidies while implementing measures to compensate vulnerable groups and to ensure international competitiveness in a sustainable way. Reforming energy subsidies while at the same time implementing environmental taxation has the potential to mobilise significant government revenues and help to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.
This section discusses the relative share of tax revenue attributed to different levels of government in 2023: federal or central government, sub-national government (including regional or provincial government, state government and local government) and social security funds. For the majority of Asian and Pacific economies for which data on revenue by level of government is available, tax revenue is collected primarily by federal or central government. Sub-national tax revenue as a share of total tax revenues is low and highly variable across the region (Table 1.3).
In 2023, the share of sub-national tax revenue ranged from 2.7% of total tax revenue in Bhutan to 32.2% in China, averaging 11.5% across the region.16 Although at a relatively low level, the share of sub-national government revenue has increased for most regional economies over time. The largest increase has been observed in Kazakhstan, where the sub-national share rose from 16.2% in 2010 to 25.2% in 2023, while Japan’s sub-national share had dropped the most by 3.4 p.p. between 2010 and 2022.
As a share of GDP, sub-national tax revenue was relatively high in Japan (7.7%, 2022 figure), China (6.6%), Australia (5.4%, 2022 figure), Korea (5.0%) and Kazakhstan (4.9%) in 2023, while it was relatively low in Bhutan (0.3%), Pakistan and Thailand (both 0.7%), and Georgia (0.8%). The amount of tax revenue collected by sub-national governments is affected by multiple factors. For example, the taxes levied by local governments vary between economies, as discussed in the Special Feature of Revenue Statistics in Asia and the Pacific 2023 (OECD, 2023[36]). Local governments in the Philippines, for instance, have a narrow range of taxes under their jurisdiction, relying mainly on property taxes and taxes on income and profits. Sub-national governments in Japan and Korea, however, raise revenue from taxes on income and profits, property taxes, taxes on goods and services, payroll (Korea only) and other taxes.
The share of sub-national government tax revenue also depends on the range of services that local governments provide. For example, in Japan, where sub-national tax revenue was among the highest in the region, prefectures and municipalities have a wide range of responsibilities, such as economic development, education, urban planning, public health and other social spending (OECD/UCLG, 2019[37]).
The share of revenue attributed to social security funds was also low in Asia and the Pacific. Bangladesh, Georgia, Hong Kong (China), Singapore and all Pacific economies except the Marshall Islands do not collect SSCs, while it was under 6% of total tax revenue in Armenia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Thailand in 2023. Revenue from social security funds was above the average of 17.1% of total tax revenue in six economies in 2023: 47.6% in the Marshall Islands, 38.5% in Japan (2022 figure), 31.5% in China, 29.9% in Viet Nam, 29.2% in Korea, 22.3% in Azerbaijan and 21.8% in Mongolia. Since 2010, the share of tax revenue attributed to social security funds has increased the most in Viet Nam (by 15.1 p.p.) and Mongolia (by 8.7 p.p.).
Percentage of total tax revenue
Note: Data for Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand are taken from Revenue Statistics 2024 (OECD, 2024[2]). Sub-national figures for Australia include data of state and local government.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on OECD (2025[4]).
This publication includes information on non-tax revenue for 23 economies. Non-tax revenue is defined as all revenue received by general government that does not meet the OECD definition of tax revenue, as set out in the Interpretative Guide (Annex A). They are further divided into five categories according to the definitions set out in Annex B: grants; property income; sales of goods and services; fines, penalties and forfeits; and miscellaneous and unidentified revenues.
Non-tax revenue as a percentage of GDP
Non-tax revenue was equivalent to a significant share of GDP for six of the 23 economies in 2023 (Bhutan, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Tokelau and Vanuatu). Non-tax revenue was below 10.0% of GDP in the remaining economies. Compared with the previous year, non-tax revenue increased across most of the economies collecting these revenues and decreased only in 7 economies in 2023. Compared to other regions such as Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia-Pacific economies reported the highest level of non-tax revenues in recent years, at above 10% of GDP on average (OECD et al., 2025[3]).
In 2023, non-tax revenue as a share of GDP ranged from 1.1% in Sri Lanka to 218.5% in Niue (Table 1.4). Between 2022 and 2023, non-tax revenue increased in 16 economies and declined in seven. The increases exceeded 1.0 p.p. in Niue (112.7 p.p.), Nauru (31.5 p.p.), Vanuatu (7.1 p.p.), Samoa (1.5 p.p.), Mongolia (1.5 p.p.) and Lao PDR (1.2 p.p.). The increases in non-tax revenue in Niue and Vanuatu were almost entirely driven by large inflows of external grants, while Nauru received an equal amount of grants and miscellaneous revenues in 2023.
Among the seven economies which recorded non-tax revenue declines in 2023, the falls exceeded 1.0 p.p. in Tokelau (43.1 p.p.), the Cook Islands (9.6 p.p.), Hong Kong (China) (2.6 p.p.) and the Marshall Islands (1.1 p.p.). In Tokelau, rents and royalties fell by 73.0 p.p. in 2023, resulting in a decline in total non-tax revenue despite increases in grants, interest and dividends. The decrease in Hong Kong (China)’s non-tax revenue was due to reduced revenues from sales of goods and services, interest and dividends, while external grants to the Cook Islands and the Marshall Islands led their non-tax revenue declines in 2023.
Non-tax revenue has increased since 2010 (or earliest available year) as a share of GDP in twelve of the 23 economies for which data on non-tax revenue is available. The largest increases occurred in Niue (92.5 p.p.), Nauru (26.3 p.p. since 2014), Vanuatu (8.1 p.p.) and the Marshall Islands (4.4 p.p.). The largest declines were in Tokelau (56.6 p.p.), Bhutan (5.5 p.p.), the Cook Islands (5.0 p.p.), Lao PDR (4.0 p.p.), Papua New Guinea (2.8 p.p.), Cambodia and Hong Kong (China) (both 2.5 p.p.), and the Maldives (1.6 p.p.).
The upward trend for the Marshall Islands and Nauru has been driven by higher revenue from property income, which is mostly sourced from fishing activities. Fisheries income also increased for the Marshall Islands and Nauru after they became partners to the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA), which administers the fishing vessel-day scheme (VDS). The VDS is the system to sustainably manage the world’s largest tuna fishery in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, and has increased revenue to the PNA by over 700% in the past seven years (Parties to the Nauru Agreement, 2016[38]). As mentioned above, Niue’s non-tax revenue more than doubled due to a large inflow of external grants in 2023.
Structure of non-tax revenue
Non-tax revenue is divided into grants; property income; sales of goods and services; fines, penalties and forfeits; and miscellaneous and unidentified revenues. In 2023, the share of each of these categories in total non-tax revenue varied across the 23 economies (Figure 1.16).
Grants were an important source of revenue for more than half of the economies in 2023, exceeding 40% of total non-tax revenue in seven economies: Tokelau (90.9%), Niue (79.4%), the Marshall Islands and Samoa (both 64.5%), Papua New Guinea (53.1%), Vanuatu (48.6%) and the Cook Islands (43.5%). Revenue from grants increased on average by 6.5 p.p. from 8.4% of GDP in 2022 to 15.0% in 2023.
Property income accounted for over 50% of total non-tax revenue in more than half the economies in 2023: Kazakhstan (81.7%), Pakistan (77.0%), Mongolia (74.3%), Singapore (70.6%), Hong Kong (67.1%), Bhutan (60.0%) and the Philippines (54.6%). Property income in Bhutan, Hong Kong (China), Pakistan and Singapore were derived predominantly from interest and dividends from state-owned enterprises and government investments as well as transfers from the central bank. Almost all Mongolia’s property income came from rents and royalties, in particular the mining royalty. Kazakhstan received roughly the same amount of property income from rents and royalties (38.8% of total non-tax revenue) and interest and dividends (42.8% of total non-tax revenue). Other property income in the Philippines, mainly Bureau of the Treasury income, made up 54.6% of non-tax revenue. Revenues from rents and royalties declined in ten out of 22 economies with data for 2023, partly due to a fall in global commodity prices.
Sales of goods and services accounted for more than half of non-tax revenue in Viet Nam (54.1%, composed of fees and charges, land rents and revenues from land user right assignment). Cambodia, Fiji, Kyrgyzstan, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand also received substantial revenues (more than 30% of total non-tax revenue) from sales of goods and services in 2023.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on OECD (2025[4]).
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← 1. The ADB recognises “Hong Kong (China)” as “Hong Kong, China”.
← 2. The ADB recognises “Kyrgyzstan” as the “Kyrgyz Republic”.
← 3. The Asia-Pacific average represents an unweighted average of 37 economies in the publication. For Australia and Japan, their data reporting schedules do not allow them to submit complete tax revenues for the latest year covered. Therefore, their 2022 data are used to calculate the regional average in 2023.
← 4. In this chapter, the group Pacific Islands covers the twelve Pacific Islands included in this publication: the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tokelau and Vanuatu, while the group Pacific economies includes Australia and New Zealand in addition to the Pacific Islands.
← 5. Nominal GDP data in this chapter correspond to the same fiscal year used by tax revenue data.
← 6. Data for Pakistan are available from 2011, for Timor-Leste from 2012 and data for Nauru and Azerbaijan are available from 2014. In addition, 2023 data for Australia and Japan are not available in (OECD, 2024[2]), so 2022 data are used instead.
← 7. The ASEAN members not included in this publication are Brunei Darussalam and Myanmar.
← 8. The Cook Islands, Cuba, Niue and Tokelau are excluded from the analysis as GDP per capita data were unavailable for these economies.
← 9. In Nauru, PIT and CIT revenue cannot be separated.
← 10. Due to data availability, data for 2022 are used for the calculation of the VRR.
← 11. Data on SSCs are not available for Bhutan, Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, Pakistan and the Maldives.
← 12. An environmentally related tax is a tax whose base is a physical unit (or a proxy of a physical unit) of something that has a proven, specific harmful impact on the environment regardless of whether the tax is intended to change behaviours or is levied for another purpose (OECD, 2025[39]).
← 13. The figures in this report do not include revenues (that may be significant) from other policies addressing environmental issues such as fees and charges or revenues from emissions trading schemes. However, the PINE database provides additional data on fees and charges, subsidies, voluntary approaches, tradable permits, deposit-refund systems (OECD, 2025[33]).
← 14. Data on environmentally related tax revenue are presented for four tax-base categories: energy (including all CO2 related taxes); transport (mostly motor vehicle taxes); pollution (e.g. discharges of waste or pollutants, taxes on waste or packaging); and resources (e.g. water extraction, hunting and fishing, mining) (OECD, 2025[33]).
← 15. These figures need to be treated with caution as some environmentally related taxes may not be captured if the data are not sufficiently disaggregated.
← 16. Sub-national data in 2023 were provided by Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Georgia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Thailand and the Philippines. Data for 2023 were not available for Australia and Japan.