This chapter provides information on tax and non-tax revenue in 38 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 2024 and tracks trends in tax and non-tax revenue since 2010.
Revenue Statistics in Asia and the Pacific 2026
Taxing Informal and Hard-to-Tax Sectors
Abstract
Tax revenues increased as a share of GDP across the Asia-Pacific region for the fourth consecutive year in 2024, supported by resilient economic activity despite weaker global demand and geopolitical and trade uncertainty. Strong exports, investment and tourism sustained growth and revenue mobilisation, although uneven economic recoveries contributed to differing revenue outcomes across economies (ADB, 2025[1]).
This edition of Revenue Statistics in Asia and the Pacific provides comprehensive data on public revenues in economies across the region up to 2024. This report presents detailed, internationally comparable data on tax revenues in 38 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, Kyrgyzstan,2 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, Tonga, Vanuatu and Viet Nam.
It also provides information on non-tax revenues for 24 economies: 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, Tonga, Vanuatu and Viet Nam.
Chapter 1 examines key tax indicators: the tax-to-GDP ratio, the tax structure, the share of tax revenue by level of government and by region. 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 taxation of the informal and hard-to-tax sectors in Asia and the Pacific.
Tax revenue trends across Asia-Pacific economies in 2024
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 represents the unweighted average of the 38 economies included in this publication (see Box 1.1 for a full explanation of the tax-to-GDP ratio).
The average tax-to-GDP ratio in the Asia-Pacific region was 19.7% in 2024 (Figure 1.1), an increase of 0.3 percentage points (p.p.) from the previous year.3 In comparison, the average tax-to-GDP ratio in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and the OECD stood at 21.7% and 34.1% in 2024, respectively, while the corresponding average for Africa was 16.1% in 2023 (latest available data).
In 2024, tax-to-GDP ratios varied widely across the economies included in this publication, ranging from 6.7% in Bangladesh to 33.7% in Japan. Sixteen of the 38 economies had tax-to-GDP ratios above the Asia-Pacific average, and all economies included in the publication had lower ratios than the OECD average.
Eight of the 23 Asian economies covered in this report had a tax-to-GDP ratio above the regional average: Japan (33.7%, 2023 figure), Mongolia (29.5%), the Maldives (26.3%), Korea (25.3%), Georgia (25.0%), Azerbaijan (22.9%), Armenia (22.7%) and Kyrgyzstan (21.9%). Meanwhile, six of the thirteen Pacific Islands4 included in this report (the Cook Islands, Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Niue, Samoa and the Solomon Islands) recorded tax-to-GDP ratios above the regional average, while the other seven were below (Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, Tokelau, Tonga and Vanuatu). Finally, both Australia (29.9%, 2023 figure) and New Zealand (32.9%) had tax-to-GDP ratios above the Asia-Pacific average.
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, Asia-Pacific, LAC and the OECD 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 2025 (OECD, 2025[2]).
Data for 2023 are used for the Africa average, Australia and Japan, as data for 2024 are not available.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on Table 3.1 in Chapter 3.
Changes in tax revenues and GDP
Economic growth in Asia and the Pacific eased slightly in 2024, as strong exports and technology investment across the region largely offset weaker domestic demand in East Asia and slower public investment in South Asia. Tourism provided additional support, particularly in West and Central Asia and the Pacific, although visitor arrivals remained below pre-pandemic levels in most economies.
This section presents the changes in nominal tax revenues and nominal GDP in Asia and the Pacific between 2023 and 2024 as well as changes in the tax-to-GDP ratio over this period.
The tax-to-GDP ratios shown in Revenue Statistics in Asia and the Pacific 2026 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 17 economies report on a fiscal year (FY) basis:
The fiscal year in Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Cook Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Pakistan, Samoa, Tokelau and Tonga runs from July to June. This means that reporting year 2024 corresponds to Q3/2024-Q2/2025.
The fiscal year in Hong Kong (China), Japan, Singapore and Sri Lanka cover April to March, while in the Marshall Islands and Thailand it covers October to September. The reporting year 2024 spans Q2/2024-Q1/2025 and Q4/2023-Q3/2024 respectively across these two groups.
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, Azerbaijan, Fiji, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Niue, Philippines, the Solomon Islands, Tokelau and Viet Nam; World Economic Outlook data published by the IMF for Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Hong Kong (China), Lao PDR, Pakistan, Singapore and Thailand; Pacific Community (SPC) data for the Marshall Islands; a combination of national sources and Asian Development Bank data for the Cook Islands; a combination of national sources and IMF data for Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Sri-Lanka, Timor-Leste, Tonga and Vanuatu; 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 38 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 for the Marshall Islands.
Data for 2024 were not available for Australia and Japan when this report was written. When 2024 data for these countries are mentioned, it refers to the fiscal year 2023 (starting in April 2023 for Japan and in July 2023 for Australia) instead of FY2024, and changes between 2023 and 2024 refer to changes between FY2022 and FY2023 for both countries.
Changes in nominal tax revenue and GDP
Annual changes in the tax-to-GDP ratio depend on both the numerator (tax revenues) and the denominator (GDP). Figure 1.2 shows year-on-year percentage changes in nominal tax revenues and nominal GDP between 2023 and 2024 for each Asia-Pacific economy included in this publication.
Between 2023 and 2024, nominal tax revenue increased in 32 of the 36 economies covered in this report for which data for 2024 are available. Over the same period, revenue decreased in Tokelau (-12.6%), Nauru (-11.3%), Timor-Leste (-6.4%) and China (-0.5%). All except two countries (Timor-Leste and Tokelau) recorded increases in nominal GDP5 in 2024.
In 16 of the 36 economies, nominal tax revenue increased by more than nominal GDP, resulting in higher tax-to-GDP ratios relative to 2023. In 18 countries, nominal GDP rose by more than nominal tax revenues, causing the tax-to-GDP ratio to decline. Nominal tax revenues declined despite increases in nominal GDP in Nauru and China.
Timor-Leste and Tokelau recorded declines in both nominal GDP and tax revenues in 2024. In Timor-Leste, the contraction in GDP exceeded the decline in tax revenues, resulting in an increase in the tax-to-GDP ratio. In Tokelau, tax revenues declined more rapidly than GDP, leading to a decrease in the tax-to-GDP ratio relative to 2023.
Year-on-year, percentage change
Note: Data for OECD member countries are taken from Revenue Statistics 2025 (OECD, 2025[2]).
Data for Australia and Japan refer to the 2022-23 change, as data for 2024 are not available.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on Chapter 3.
Changes in tax-to-GDP ratios between 2023 and 2024
The average tax-to-GDP ratio of the Asia-Pacific region increased by 0.3 p.p. in 2024. The changes in tax-to-GDP ratios between 2023 and 2024 ranged from a decline of 3.5 p.p. in Niue to an increase of 5.9 p.p. in the Cook Islands. As a percentage of GDP, tax revenues increased in 16 of the 36 economies in this publication for which data for 2024 are available, while 20 economies reported decreases (Figure 1.3).
Nine economies reported an increase in their tax-to-GDP ratio equal to or larger than 1 p.p. between 2023 and 2024: the Cook Islands (5.9 p.p.), Mongolia (4.8 p.p.), the Marshall Islands (4.7 p.p.), Fiji (3.6 p.p.), Sri Lanka (2.5 p.p.), Kiribati (1.9 p.p.), Lao PDR, Bhutan and Pakistan (all three at 1.7 p.p.).
By contrast, seven economies reported decreases equal to or larger than 1 p.p.: Niue (-3.5 p.p.), Nauru (‑3.0 p.p.), Kazakhstan (-2.1 p.p.), Tokelau (-1.9 p.p.), Korea (-1.5 p.p.), Vanuatu (-1.4 p.p.) and Samoa (‑1.2 p.p.).
Percentage points (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 2025 (OECD, 2025[2]).
Data for the change between 2022 and 2023 are used for Australia, Japan.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on Table 3.1 in Chapter 3.
The average tax-to-GDP ratio in the Asia-Pacific region increased by 0.3 p.p. in 2024, the fourth consecutive increase in this indicator (0.1 p.p. in 2021, 0.8 p.p. in 2022, and 0.2 p.p. in 2023). In 2024, the OECD average also rose by 0.3 p.p. following declines in the previous two years. In the LAC region, the average tax-to-GDP ratio increased by 0.2 p.p. in 2024 and has risen each year since 2021 (Figure 1.4).
Percentage points (p.p.)
Note: Changes in tax revenues as percentage of GDP between periods are rounded to one decimal place.
The Asia-Pacific average and the averages for Africa (38 countries), LAC (28 countries) and OECD (38 countries) are unweighted.
The change in Africa average should be interpreted with caution as data for social security contributions are not available or are partial in certain countries. Tax-to-GDP figures for the African average are only available up to 2023.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on Table 3.1 in Chapter 3.
Changes in tax-to-GDP ratios by tax category
PIT drove the increase in tax revenues as a share of GDP on average across the 36 economies with data for 2024 in this publication, rising by 0.3 p.p. between 2023 and 2024, in line with the overall increase in total tax revenues (Table 1.1). CIT revenues increased by 0.1 p.p. in 2024 following a decline of 0.3 p.p. in the previous year. Revenues from taxes on goods and services remained broadly unchanged in 2024 relative to 2023 notwithstanding a 0.1 p.p. decline in revenues from excises.
Figure 1.5 presents the changes in tax-to-GDP ratios between 2023 and 2024 by main tax category across the 36 countries and on average for Asia-Pacific and the LAC region. In 2024, economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region was positive despite weaker global demand and uncertainty regarding trade and geopolitical developments. Strong exports and investment, particularly in technology and electronics manufacturing, supported growth across high-income economies, while tourism continued to recover in many Pacific Island economies. At the same time, weaker domestic demand in parts of East Asia and slower public investment in South Asia weighed on growth. Finally, commodity prices broadly eased in 2024, contributing to lower inflationary pressures across the region (ADB, 2025[1]).
Year-on-year changes, p.p.
Note: “Other taxes on goods and services” includes all taxes on goods and services (heading 5000) excluding VAT (heading 5111), excises (heading 5121) and customs duties (heading 5123). “Other taxes” includes taxes on payroll (heading 3000), property taxes (4000) and miscellaneous and unallocable taxes (heading 6000).
Source: Authors’ calculations based on Table 3.1 in Chapter 3.
As discussed above, the 0.3 p.p. increase in the Asia-Pacific average tax-to-GDP ratio in 2024 was driven mainly by higher income tax revenues as a share of GDP. In the LAC region, income tax revenues declined slightly in 2024, while taxes on goods and services were the main contributor to the 0.2 p.p. increase in the average tax-to-GDP ratio.
The largest increases in tax-to-GDP ratios occurred in the Cook Islands, Mongolia and the Marshall Islands and were primarily driven by higher income tax revenues.
The Cook Islands’ tax-to-GDP ratio rose by 5.9 p.p. in 2024. This increase was driven by a strong rebound in tourism, which surpassed pre-pandemic levels and supported higher revenues from income taxes (particularly CIT) and VAT (Government of the Cook Islands, 2025[3]). Revenues from these taxes increased by 3.6 p.p. and 1.3 p.p., respectively.
In Mongolia, the tax-to-GDP ratio increased by 4.8 p.p. in 2024, driven by income tax revenues (3.1 p.p.) and taxes on goods and services (1.2 p.p.). Revenues from both PIT and CIT increased, while VAT, excises on vehicles and import duties were the main contributors to the rise in taxes on goods and services. Revenue growth was supported by a strong performance in the mining sector, particularly coal and copper, alongside robust government and household spending, which offset a contraction in agriculture due to a dzud – an extreme winter weather event characterised by severe cold and heavy snowfall that causes widespread livestock losses. High prices for key export commodities throughout 2024 also supported tax revenues (Bank of Mongolia, 2024[4]).
Income taxes drove the 4.7 p.p. increase in the Marshall Islands’ tax-to-GDP ratio in 2024, accounting for around 70% of the overall increase. PIT was the main contributor, particularly for non-residents, alongside a significant rise in the Business Gross Revenue Tax on resident firms, which is classified under “Other taxes on goods and services”. These revenue increases were supported by stronger economic activity in the archipelago, notably a rebound in the fisheries sector, the completion of public infrastructure projects and the hosting of the Micronesian Games, which boosted construction and services (IMF, 2025[5]).
Percentage points (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 2025 (OECD, 2025[2]).
Data for the change between 2023 and 2024 are used for Australia and Japan.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on OECD (2026[6]).
Meanwhile, a range of factors drove the largest decreases in tax revenues as a share of GDP between 2023 and 2024, which were observed in Niue, Nauru and Kazakhstan.
In the Pacific Island economy of Niue, the tax-to-GDP ratio declined by 3.5 p.p. in 2024, as GDP in current prices increased strongly (by 18.0%), while nominal tax revenues grew more modestly (by 5.0%). Strong GDP growth reflected the combined effect of completed infrastructure projects, notably in roads and airport development, and the recovery of the tourism sector – although international arrivals remain below the pre-pandemic level. At the same time, VAT revenues from imports declined sharply, further contributing to the decrease (Government of Niue, 2025[7]).
In Nauru, both nominal GDP and tax revenues declined in 2024 (by 7.6% and 11.3%, respectively), resulting in a 3.0 p.p. decrease in the tax-to-GDP ratio. As in previous years, the decline in tax revenues was driven primarily by lower income tax receipts, particularly from the Business Tax whose revenue fell by 42.0% in 2024. Business Tax revenues in Nauru largely rely on the operations of the Regional Processing Centre (RPC), which has been scaled down in recent years but resumed operations in mid-2024 (ADB, 2025[1]).
In Kazakhstan, the tax-to-GDP ratio declined by 2.1 p.p. in 2024 as nominal tax revenues grew more slowly than GDP. This reflected a flattening in oil production, which led to a 18% decrease in CIT revenues from the oil sector to the National Fund, a sovereign wealth fund used to stabilise the government’s budget. Revenues from taxes on goods and services also declined, notably domestic VAT and revenues from the mineral extraction tax, partly due to a slowdown in mining activity (IMF, 2025[8]).
Other countries undertook significant tax reforms in 2024, which had an impact in their domestic revenue mobilisation:
In Fiji, a VAT reform that replaced the previous three-tier system with a two-tier structure increased the VAT rate applied to several goods from 9% to 15%. This reform partially contributed to a 1.9 p.p. increase in VAT revenues in 2024, the largest increase in VAT revenues in the Asia-Pacific region. At the same time, the CIT rate was raised from 20% to 25% (Fiji Revenue and Customs Service, 2023[9]), contributing 1.0 p.p. to the overall increase in income tax revenues, more than double initial expectations (IMF, 2024[10]). Excise duties on tobacco and alcohol were also increased in the 2024 and 2025 budgets, with both measures contributing to revenue growth in 2024 (Fiji Revenue and Customs Service, 2024[11]).
In Sri Lanka, revenues from VAT increased by 1.8 p.p. in 2024 following the removal of a large number of VAT exemptions and an increase in the standard VAT rate from 15% to 18% (Ministry of Finance of Sri Lanka, 2025[12]). These measures were expected to increase tax revenues by around 1.6 p.p. of GDP (IMF, 2023[13]).
In Lao PDR, the VAT rate was reinstated at 10% in 2024 after having been reduced to 7% in 2022, underpinning a 1.7 p.p. increase in the overall tax-to-GDP ratio. The reversal of the rate decrease was expected to generate additional tax revenues equivalent to 1 p.p. of GDP (World Bank and Asian Development Bank, 2022[14]). Increases in excise tax rates and the introduction of export duties on selected goods also contributed to the overall increase in revenues.
In Bhutan, the tax-to-GDP ratio increased by 1.7 p.p. in 2024, reflecting broad-based growth in tax revenues. A rise in CIT revenues was mainly driven by higher revenues from hydropower projects and state-owned enterprises. Revenues from taxes on goods and services also increased following the lifting of the moratorium on vehicle imports, which led to a rise in Green Tax revenues levied on motor vehicles (Ministry of Finance of Bhutan, 2025[15]).
Tourism represents an important source of economic activity and employment in many Pacific Island economies, although its contribution varies considerably due to differences in infrastructure, connectivity and public investment in tourism development. Prior to the pandemic, tourism accounted for more than 10% of GDP in most Pacific economies, while in Fiji, Samoa and Vanuatu, for example, the tourism sector consistently contributed to around one third of GDP (World Bank, 2023[16]). Tourism was also important in Tonga and Kiribati before the pandemic, while playing a smaller role in the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, where fisheries and extractive industries are more prominent (Figure 1.6).
This reliance on tourism increases the vulnerability of Pacific Island economies to shocks to international travel, which became particularly evident during the pandemic. Border closures and travel restrictions led to an unprecedented collapse in visitor arrivals. Fiji’s economy contracted by 15.0% in 2020, while unemployment increased sharply, reaching over 30% among young workers (ADB and ILO, 2020[17]). The Cook Islands, Samoa and Vanuatu also experienced major economic disruptions linked to the collapse in tourism activity (ADB, 2024[18]).
Source: World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC, 2024[19]).
Tourism has recovered following the reopening of international borders, although progress has been uneven (Table 1.2). Some economies, including the Cook Islands, Fiji and Samoa, had broadly recovered or surpassed pre-pandemic visitor levels by 2024. Others, including Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Tonga, remained below pre-pandemic levels. In Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, infrastructure constraints and the slow re-establishment of international flight connections continued to weigh on tourism activity (Pilak et al., 2024[20]; McNaught, 2024[21]), while in Tonga successive natural disasters delayed the recovery of the tourism sector (Government of Tonga, 2022[22]). Finally, in Vanuatu, the decline in overseas visitors in 2024 was largely attributable to the cessation of operations of Air Vanuatu (ADB, 2025[1]).
Source: Pacific Community (SPC, 2026[23]), Pacific Data Hub (database), https://pacificdata.org/ (accessed on 27 May 2026).
Tourism is an important source of government revenue in many Pacific Island economies. Sector-specific charges (generally classified as taxes on goods and services) together with VAT or GST revenues generated by tourism-related consumption, make an important contribution to public finances. Several economies charge departure and airport arrival charges on tourists, including the Cook Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu. Timor-Leste also levies a dedicated Services Tax on tourism-related businesses. Fiji introduced the Environmental and Climate Adaptation Levy in 2017, applying a 5% tax on the gross turnover of accommodation providers, tour operators and restaurants.
The uneven tourism recovery across the Pacific Islands has contributed to tax revenues remaining below pre-pandemic levels on average (Figure 1.7). In 2024, the average tax-to-GDP ratio stood at 20.6%, which was 1.3 p.p. below its 2019 level, albeit still 1.4 p.p. above its level in 2014. The recovery in tourism contributed to some of the largest increases in tax-to-GDP ratios observed in 2024 relative to 2023, particularly in the Cook Islands, Fiji and the Marshall Islands. By contrast, the largest decline was observed in Niue, where visitor arrivals remained below pre-pandemic levels.
As Figure 1.7 shows, VAT has become increasingly important within the average tax structure across Pacific Island economies. In 2024, it contributed a share of revenues broadly comparable to that of other taxes on goods and services, which include excises and customs duties. PIT revenues are more important than CIT revenues on average, while CIT revenues have shown greater volatility over time, reflecting some economies’ reliance on natural resources.
Note: “Other taxes” includes taxes recorded under headings 1300, 3000, 4000 and 6000, as detailed in the OECD Interpretative Guide. The Pacific Islands average represents the unweighted average of 13 Pacific Island economies included in this publication: the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tokelau, Tonga and Vanuatu.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on OECD (OECD, 2026[6]).
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. In many economies where agriculture accounts for a large share of employment and output, taxation can be challenging as it is associated with informality, low incomes and low productivity (Mawejje and Sebudde, 2019[24]). In addition, the agricultural sector may benefit from tax exemptions. For example, Malaysia grants a tax allowance on capital expenditure and income tax to companies engaged in certain agricultural activities (MIDA, 2019[25]). In Kazakhstan, individual farms between 500 and 5000 ha can opt for the Single Land Tax regime, under which a tax based on the cadastral value of land replaces the land use tax and several other business taxes (OECD, 2025[26]). In Thailand, unprocessed agricultural products are exempt from VAT, while newly established farms in Fiji may benefit from full exemptions from income tax for up to 13 years.
Moreover, the common challenges that Small Island Developing States (SIDS) confront, such as remoteness, exposure to natural disasters and limited economic diversification, also influence levels, structures and volatility of tax revenues in the Pacific islands. These characteristics can increase reliance on border and indirect taxes while constraining the development of broader domestic tax bases (IMF, 2022[27]; OECD, 2022[28]).
In addition to structural factors, tax policy and tax administration settings 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[29]). Empirical evidence suggests that stronger institutions and higher trust in tax authorities are associated with higher tax compliance and, in turn, higher tax-to-GDP ratios in Asia. For example, Aizenman et al. (2019[30]) found that tax-to-GDP ratios in Asia are positively correlated with government effectiveness and institutional quality. Asian economies also tend to exhibit relatively high levels of trust in government tax authorities (OECD et al., 2025[31]), which has been associated with higher tax compliance in the region (Mas’ud, Manaf and Saad, 2019[32]).
For these reasons and others, tax-to-GDP ratios tend to be higher in high-income economies, although the relationship is not direct and is less pronounced at lower income levels due to the influence of other structural, institutional and policy-related factors (Besley and Persson, 2014[33]). Figure 1.8 shows tax-to-GDP ratios and GDP per capita in countries in different regions. In general, OECD countries collect a higher amount of tax revenues than non-OECD countries, measured as a percentage of GDP. The figure also highlights the wide differences in levels of development across the Asia-Pacific region, although most economies in this publication still display lower GDP per capita and lower tax-to-GDP ratios than OECD and LAC countries.
The four OECD countries included in this publication (Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand) combine high tax-to-GDP ratios with high per capita income. A separate group of countries, notably Singapore and Hong Kong (China), displays relatively high GDP per capita with low tax-to-GDP ratios. 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[34]; UNCTAD, 2012[35]). 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[36]).
There is also a group of economies that combine high tax-to-GDP ratios with relatively low levels of GDP per capita. These include the Marshall Islands, the Solomon Islands and Mongolia. At the other end of the spectrum, a subset of Asia-Pacific economies combines low per capita income with comparatively low tax-to-GDP ratios. These include Pacific Island economies such as Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu, as well as Bangladesh, Pakistan and Cambodia. Box 1.3 combines tax-to-GDP ratios with GDP per capita to calculate tax revenues per capita across the region and explains how this indicator varies between economies.
Note: The y-axis is on a logarithmic scale.
Data for 2023 are used for Australia, Japan and all African countries.
The figure includes data for 38 African, 38 OECD, 27 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 2025 (OECD, 2025[2]). Data for 2023 are used for Australia, Japan and for all African countries, as data for 2024 are not available.
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, 2026[37]) and (World Bank, 2025[38])).
Source: GDP per capita from World Economic Outlook, April 2026 (IMF, 2026[39]). Revenue data from OECD (2026[6]).
Tax-to-GDP ratios are widely used to assess countries’ domestic revenue mobilisation performance, but they do not capture the absolute level of resources available to governments. Tax revenue per capita complements this measure by showing the average amount of tax revenue collected per person (adult or child). Countries with similar tax-to-GDP ratios can generate different levels of revenue per person and therefore have different capacities to finance public services and infrastructure. For cross-country comparisons, tax revenue per capita is presented in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms to account for differences in price levels across countries and better reflect governments’ effective purchasing power.
Figure 1.9 shows Asia-Pacific economies’ tax-to-GDP ratios and GDP per capita in 2024. The area to the left and below each economy’s position corresponds to its tax revenue per capita, expressed in PPP terms (USD). The isoquant curves in red represent equal thresholds of tax revenue per capita.
In this analysis, tax revenue per capita depends on the tax-to-GDP ratio and GDP per capita, as it is derived from the product of both indicators. As such, the same level of tax revenue per capita can result from different combinations of tax-to-GDP ratios and per capita income levels. For example, Indonesia and Samoa had a similar level of tax revenue per capita in 2024 (at USD 1 969 and USD 2 043, respectively), although Samoa combined a higher tax-to-GDP ratio with a lower GDP per capita than Indonesia. Meanwhile, Bhutan and Malaysia recorded comparable tax-to-GDP ratios in 2024 (13.2% and 13.0%, respectively), but tax revenue per capita in Malaysia was more than twice as high due to its higher GDP per capita.
Note: Tax revenue per capita is calculated as the product of the tax-to-GDP ratio and GDP per capita. The isoquant curves represent combinations of tax-to-GDP ratios and GDP per capita levels that yield the same level of tax revenue per capita. For example, tax revenue per capita of USD 2 000 can result from a tax-to-GDP ratio of 5% combined with a GDP per capita of USD 40 000, or from a tax-to-GDP ratio of 10% combined with a GDP per capita of USD 20 000.
Tax revenue per capita is expressed in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms to account for differences in price levels across economies. PPP conversion rates measure the amount of a country’s currency needed to purchase the same basket of goods and services that one US dollar would buy in the United States. Values are expressed in international dollars, a hypothetical currency with the same purchasing power as the US dollar in the United States.
Data for 2023 are used for Australia and Japan as tax-to-GDP ratios for 2024 are not available. The Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau are not included in this analysis, as GDP per capita data were not available.
Source: (IMF, 2026[39]) for GDP per capita data and (OECD, 2026[6]) for the tax-to-GDP ratios.
Figure 1.10 presents tax revenue per capita levels in 2014 and 2024, alongside tax-to-GDP ratios in 2024, across Asia-Pacific economies. Tax revenue per capita varied widely across the region in 2024, from less than USD 500 in Timor-Leste to more than USD 20 000 in Singapore and Australia. More than half of the Asia-Pacific economies included in this analysis recorded tax revenue per capital below USD 3 000, while around 1 in 5 had a level below USD 1 000.
Economies with relatively high tax-to-GDP ratios may still have limited spending capacity per resident if income levels are low. For example, the Solomon Islands recorded a tax-to-GDP ratio of 24.0% in 2024 – around 4 p.p. above the Asia-Pacific average – yet tax revenue per capita amounted to around USD 600, among the lowest levels in the region. At the same time, high tax revenue per capita can be achieved despite comparatively low tax-to-GDP ratios, as is the case in Singapore, which recorded the highest tax revenue per capita in the region in 2024 (USD 20 784) and a tax-to-GDP ratio of 13.4%.
Note: Data for 2023 are used for Australia and Japan as tax-to-GDP ratios for 2024 are not available. The Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau are not included in this analysis, as GDP per capita data were not available.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on (IMF, 2026[39]) and (OECD, 2026[6])..
Because this measure is expressed in PPP-adjusted USD terms – and therefore reflects equalised price levels rather than market exchange rates – it can be compared consistently across countries and over time. Tax revenue per capita increased between 2014 and 2024 in all Asia-Pacific economies included in this analysis except Timor-Leste. In other Pacific islands, including Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, tax revenue per capita increased marginally over the decade. By contrast, tax revenue per capita more than doubled in thirteen economies: Maldives, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Mongolia, China, Armenia, Viet Nam, Philippines, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Kiribati.
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 structures in 2024
Figure 1.11 shows the decomposition of tax revenues across all economies included in this publication, differentiating between taxes on income and profit, social security contributions, taxes on goods and services (including VAT and other goods and services taxes), and other taxes – a category that includes payroll taxes (heading 3000), property taxes (heading 4000) and other taxes classified under heading 6000.
Within the Asia-Pacific region, tax structures varied greatly in 2024. Taxes on goods and services remained the main source of tax revenue for 26 out of the 38 Asia-Pacific economies. Among these, taxes on goods and services generated between 37.0% of tax revenues in China and 97.0% of tax revenues in Vanuatu.
VAT accounted for the largest share of revenues from taxes on goods and services in 18 of these 26 economies, ranging from 24.7% in Viet Nam to 56.8% in Vanuatu. In the remaining eight 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 eight economies ranged from 23.2% of total tax revenue in Kazakhstan to 61.6% in the Solomon Islands.
In ten out of the 38 Asia-Pacific economies (Australia, Bhutan, Hong Kong (China), Korea, Malaysia, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Singapore and Tokelau), taxes on income and profits accounted for the largest share of tax revenues, ranging from 31.2% in Korea to 67.6% in Tokelau.
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 2024 in the Marshall Islands (40.2%), the only Pacific economy that levies SSCs, and Japan (39.1% in 2023) while they also amounted to a significant proportion of tax revenue in China (33.5%), Viet Nam (30.0%), Korea (30.2%), Azerbaijan (24.1%), Mongolia (20.0%) and the Philippines (15.2%).
Percentage of total tax revenue
Note: The averages for Africa (38 countries), for Asia-Pacific (38 economies), for LAC (28 Latin American and Caribbean countries) and the OECD (38 countries) are unweighted. The sum of the average shares may not equal the reported total.
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 2025 (OECD, 2025[2]).
Data for 2023 are used for the Africa average, Australia, Japan and the OECD average.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on OECD (2026[6]).
On average, VAT accounted for a larger share of total tax revenue (26.7%) than other taxes on goods and services (23.3%) in 2024 for the 38 economies in Asia and the Pacific, below the average VAT share of 28.4% in the LAC region but larger than the average VAT shares of 26.6% in Africa (2023 figure) and across the OECD countries (20.5%, 2023 figure).
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, as several island economies lack a VAT system (see Box 1.2). In 2024, taxes on other goods and services generated more revenues than VAT for half of the Pacific economies included in the publication (Figure 1.12), ranging from 11.1% of total tax revenue in Australia to 61.6% in Timor-Leste and 61.8% in the Solomon Islands (the latter of which does not apply a VAT). The high share in the Timor-Leste derived mostly from excises as well as sales taxes, while in the Solomon Islands it was driven by the Goods Tax, export duties on various products – particularly logging exports – and excises, more notably on tobacco. Several higher-income Asia-Pacific economies, including Hong Kong (China), Singapore and the OECD members in this publication, rely comparatively less on taxes on goods and services.
With the recent increases in income tax revenues, PIT and CIT have become an increasingly important revenue source across Asia and the Pacific. The split between PIT and CIT revenues differs considerably across Asia-Pacific economies, reflecting differences in economic structures and tax systems. Most economies are positioned above the diagonal line, generating a larger share of total tax revenues from CIT than from PIT, often reflecting the importance of the financial and natural resource sectors. This pattern is particularly visible in Hong Kong (China), Papua New Guinea, Malaysia and Bhutan, where CIT revenues account for more than 40% of total tax revenues.
By contrast, Australia and New Zealand stand out for their comparatively high reliance on PIT revenues, reflecting comprehensive personal income tax systems. Some Pacific Island economies also derive a significantly larger share of tax revenues from PIT than CIT, including Tokelau, the Marshall Islands and Niue.
Tokelau and the Marshall Islands do not levy taxes on corporate income, with the Marshall Islands instead applying a tax on gross business revenue. In Niue, low CIT collections reflect a narrow corporate tax base despite a relatively high statutory CIT rate of 30% in 2024. Finally, Tonga and Kyrgyzstan combine comparatively low levels of both PIT and CIT revenues, with both countries relying much more heavily on taxes on goods and services.
Percentage of total tax revenue
Note: Nauru, Pakistan and Vanuatu are omitted from the first chart since heading 1000 is not disaggregated into PIT and CIT for these economies.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on OECD (2026[6]).
Figure 1.13 compares the tax structures of Asia-Pacific economies with other regions. Average tax structures across Asia-Pacific, Africa and the LAC region shared some similarities in 2024. Revenue from goods and services accounted for a similar share of total tax revenue in Africa, Asia-Pacific and the LAC region, at 51.2% (2023 figure), 50.0% and 49.2% respectively – significantly above the OECD average of 31.2% (2023 figure).
VAT was the largest contributor to tax revenue in Asia and the Pacific among major tax types, accounting for 26.7% of total taxation. The share was smaller than that of the LAC region (28.9%) but above the African and OECD average levels of 26.6% and 20.5%, respectively (both figures for 2023). Taxes from other goods and services generated a similar share of tax revenue in Asia-Pacific (23.3%) and in Africa (24.6%), above the LAC average (20.3%) and more than twice the OECD average (10.8%).
On average, income tax revenue in Asia-Pacific (38.8%) accounted for a similar share of total taxation as in Africa (40.0%). In Asia-Pacific, revenue from PIT accounted for 18.2% of total tax revenue, similar to the Africa average of 16.5% (2023 figure), above the LAC average (9.6%) and below the OECD average (23.7%, 2023 figure). CIT revenue accounted for a larger share of total tax revenue in Asia-Pacific, on average, at 19.9%, which was the second-highest among the regional averages: CIT revenue accounted for 21.4% in Africa (2023 figure), 17.4% in the LAC region and 11.9% in OECD countries (2023 figure).
In contrast, the Asia-Pacific region had the second-lowest share of SSCs among the four regional averages: they contributed 8.4% of total tax revenue in Asia-Pacific, 7.4% in Africa (2023 figure), 15.9% in the LAC region and 25.5% of total tax revenue in the OECD (2023 figure).
Percentage of total tax revenue and percentage of GDP
Note: The averages for Africa (38 countries), for Asia-Pacific (38 economies), for LAC (28 Latin American and Caribbean countries) and the OECD (38 countries) are unweighted. The sum of the average shares may not equal the reported total6.
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 2025 (OECD, 2025[2]).
Data for 2023 are used for the Africa average and the OECD average.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on OECD (2026[6]).
This section describes the VAT revenue ratio (VRR) in selected Asian and Pacific economies in this publication for the year 2023, the latest year for which final consumption expenditure data are available for all economies in the region. The VRR measures the difference between the VAT revenue that economies 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. The calculation is shown below.
Most Asia-Pacific economies have a VAT system, with Bhutan, Hong Kong (China), Malaysia and four Pacific Island economies being notable exceptions (see Figure 1.12). Out of the remaining 28 economies for which data were available, the highest standard VAT rate in Asia and the Pacific was applied in Armenia, at 20% in 2023, slightly above the OECD average at 19.3% in 2022. The lowest VAT standard rate applied in 2023 throughout the region was in Timor-Leste, at 2.5%. The average VAT rate for the 28 countries included in this analysis stood at 12.5%, significantly below the OECD average in 2022.
There was a wide disparity of VRRs in the Asia-Pacific region in 2023. Timor-Leste had the lowest VRR at 0.07 while the Cook Islands had the highest at 1.08 (Figure 1.14). Of the 28 economies with available data in this publication, 17 economies (Azerbaijan, Cambodia, China, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Georgia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, New Zealand, Samoa, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam) had relatively high VRRs in 2023, above the OECD average of 0.58 in 2022.
This is partly because of the relatively broad-based VAT in some economies: for example, the Cook Islands and New Zealand did not have any reduced rates in 2023, 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[40]). Korea has a reduced rate on a limited number of products. Fiji replaced its three-tier VAT structure with a two-tier system during FY2023, while several Asian countries – including Sri Lanka, Lao PDR and Bangladesh – have narrowed VAT exemptions in recent years. In comparison, many OECD countries have one or more reduced rates (OECD, 2024[41]), which partly explains the lower average VRR in the OECD region as a whole.
Figure 1.14 also illustrates that VAT performance is not significantly correlated to the standard VAT rates a country imposes. High VRRs can be achieved with comparatively low standard VAT rates, as observed in Kyrgyzstan and Thailand, while relatively high VAT rates do not necessarily translate into stronger VAT performance, as is the case of Pakistan and Bangladesh. Empirical evidence suggests instead that VAT efficiency depends heavily on policy design and administration, with tax base broadening (through limiting exemptions and reduced rates, for example), broader VAT registration coverage, stronger compliance and lower informality playing a more important role in determining VAT performance (De Mooij, Hebous and Keen, 2025[42]).
The VRR needs to be interpreted with caution as it can be inflated by several factors. 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[43]). 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[41]). Regarding New Zealand, in addition to the limited number of reduced rates and exemptions, the VRR is increased by the treatment of public services as GST taxable (OECD, 2024[41])
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[44]).
Notes: Data for OECD countries (Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand) are taken from Revenue Statistics 2025 (OECD, 2025[45]). Data for the OECD average are taken from Consumption Tax Trends 2024 (OECD, 2024[41]). VAT rates shown above represent the standard rate applicable in each Asia-Pacific economy in 2023. Due to data limitations, VRR for the Maldives, Mongolia, and Niue could not be presented.
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 2024 (OECD, 2024[41]) for VAT rates, World Economic Outlook, April 2026 (IMF, 2026[39]), (UNCTAD, 2026[46]) and OECD National Accounts (OECD, 2026[47]) for final consumption expenditure and country tables in Chapter 4 of this report for VAT revenue.
The Cook Islands provide a clear illustration of this methodological effect. VAT revenues generated from tourism are significant in this economy and are included in the numerator, whereas tourism-related expenditure by foreign visitors is excluded from the denominator, resulting in a VRR above one. When tourist arrivals collapsed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cook Islands’ VRR fell to 0.57.
The VRR may also be reduced 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 (OECD, 2024[41]).
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, Viet Nam, Kyrgyzstan and the Philippines. Regimes for the taxation of imports of low-value goods have also been introduced in Australia (2018), New Zealand (2019), Kazakhstan (2022), Singapore (2023) and Thailand (2024).
Tax-to-GDP ratios and tax structures have evolved considerably across Asia-Pacific economies over the past decade, although trends have varied across economies and tax types. The regional average tax-to-GDP ratio increased by 0.4 p.p. since 2019, the first year for which a regional average for total tax revenue can be calculated.
The increase in the Asia-Pacific average from 2019 has been largely driven by higher revenues from VAT and PIT, both of which increased by 0.6 p.p. of GDP on average (Figure 1.15). The increase in VAT revenues partly reflects the continued expansion and strengthening of VAT systems across the region. Since 2014, several economies introduced a VAT, while others implemented reforms aimed at broadening the tax base through the removal of exemptions and reduced rates, and increases in standard rates.
PIT revenues have also increased between 2014 and 2024. This reflects stronger labour market conditions and moderate reductions in informality observed in some of the more advanced economies across the region, although informal employment remained widespread, accounting for more than 53% of non-agricultural employment in Asia and the Pacific in 2019 (ILO, 2023[48]).
CIT receipts, on the other hand, have remained broadly unchanged on average across the Asia-Pacific region since 2014. In several resource-rich economies, CIT revenues were strongly influenced by fluctuations in global commodity prices, particularly for hydrocarbons and minerals, contributing to elevated but volatile revenues. Over time, however, revenues from extractive industries became less important in some economies as commodity prices moderated or production declined, notably in Timor-Leste. Strong export performance and the recovery of tourism after the pandemic also supported CIT revenues in a number of manufacturing and services-oriented economies across the region.
Between 2014 and 2024, revenues from other taxes on goods and services declined by 0.5 p.p. as a share of GDP in the Asia-Pacific region. Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, trade flows contracted sharply in 2020, contributing to a decline in customs duty revenues as a share of GDP. Since then, trade in Asia and the Pacific has been a key driver of economic growth. Customs revenues subsequently recovered, although ongoing trade liberalisation may reduce their longer-term importance. In particular, the progressive implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership since 2022 – the world’s largest free trade agreement, covering members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as Australia, China, Japan, Korea and New Zealand – has further reduced tariff barriers – and thus customs revenues – across the region.
Moreover, excise revenues have declined since the pandemic, falling by 0.3 percentage points (p.p.) of GDP on average between 2019 and 2024. One contributing factor was the widespread introduction of energy-related support measures during the surge in global inflation and fuel prices in 2022, including temporary reductions in fuel taxes and duties (OECD, 2022[49]). In New Zealand, for example, the government reduced fuel excise duties on petrol by 25 cents per litre in 2022 as part of a temporary cost-of-living support package, with the measure phased out by mid-2023. Refund mechanisms for fuel excise duties and VAT on petrol also continued to affect net collections in 2024. Similar measures were implemented by several other Asia-Pacific economies (Do et al., 2024[50]), including Kazakhstan, Mongolia and the Philippines, contributing to lower excise tax revenues across the region. At the same time, although inflation moderated in 2024, high inflation in preceding years may also have eroded the real value of specific non-ad valorem excise duties where rates were not regularly indexed.
Percentage of GDP
Note: The Asia-Pacific average represents the unweighted average of 38 Asia-Pacific economies included in this publication. Data for 2023 are used for Australia and Japan.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on OECD (2026[6]), Chapter 3.
Between 2014 and 2024, declining revenues from other taxes on goods and services were a major contributor to falling tax-to-GDP ratios in several Asia-Pacific economies. By contrast, increases in tax-to-GDP ratios were driven by a broader range of tax categories across economies, reflecting different policy reforms and economic developments across Asia and the Pacific over this period.
Over this period, the tax-to-GDP ratio increased in 23 of the 38 economies included in this publication, while it declined in the remaining fifteen economies (Figure 1.16).7 The largest increases were observed in Mongolia (9.3 p.p.), the Cook Islands (8.8 p.p.), Kiribati (7.0 p.p.), the Maldives (6.9 p.p.), Nauru (6.5 p.p.), and the Marshall Islands (6.0 p.p.). Of these 23 economies, only New Zealand, Armenia, Fiji, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Singapore reported changes smaller than 2 p.p. The most significant increases in revenue were driven by a combination of structural economic factors and cyclical developments, together with reforms to tax policy and administration:
PIT has historically played a limited role in revenue generation in Mongolia, but in FY2023 a progressive PIT system was introduced that increased effective tax rates on higher incomes and has supported revenue growth (World Bank, 2025[51]). At the same time, a strong performance in the mining sector has boosted CIT collections (IMF, 2025[52]). Finally, increasing digitalisation of tax administration – particularly through electronic VAT receipt systems – combined with simplified filing procedures has improved tax compliance in Mongolia.
Revenue growth in the Cook Islands has been driven in part by a shift away from income-based taxation towards consumption-based taxes. Although the economy contracted sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has since rebounded strongly, leading to a rapid increase in revenues from PIT, CIT and VAT in recent years.
Kiribati has expanded its revenue base in recent years through tax reforms that replaced a range of import duties with VAT and excise taxes, effectively reducing tariff rates to zero. VAT revenues, in particular, have performed strongly, supported by gradual base broadening – including the recent extension of the tax to digital and cross-border services – and improvements in compliance and administration (Government of Kiribati, 2018[53]).
The Maldives has undertaken major tax reforms to increase tax revenues. Key policy changes during the 2010s included the introduction of a goods and services tax (VAT), a business tax, and a corporate profit tax. Subsequent rate increases in these three taxes have contributed to higher revenue (ADB, 2017[54]). The Maldives also introduced a PIT in 2020 (Maldives Inland Revenue Authority, 2020[55]).
Since 2014, Nauru’s tax collections have 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[56]).
The largest decreases between 2014 and 2024 were observed in Timor-Leste (-10.0 p.p.), China (‑5.2 p.p., excluding SSCs), Kazakhstan (-3.6 p.p.), Malaysia (-2.3 p.p.), Papua New Guinea (-2.3 p.p.) and Hong Kong (China) (-2.1 p.p.). For the remaining nine economies where the tax-to-GDP ratio declined over this period, the drop was smaller than 2 p.p. These declines primarily reflected lower natural resource prices and, in the case of Timor-Leste, declining production of natural resources. They also reflected reforms to indirect taxation systems that reduced the importance of other taxes on goods and services in favour of VAT. In China, for example, the replacement of a turnover tax (Business Tax) with VAT in 2016, together with subsequent VAT rate reductions, contributed to a decline in revenues from taxes on goods and services as a share of GDP, as VAT revenues did not fully offset foregone revenues from the abolished tax (IMF, 2024[57]).
Percentage points (p.p.)
Note: Data for Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand are taken from Revenue Statistics 2025 (OECD, 2025[2]).
For Australia and Japan, the graph shows changes between 2014-23 as data for 2024 were not available for both countries.
The change in tax-to-GDP ratio for China is shown exclusive of SSCs as data are only available from 2019.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on Table 3.1 in Chapter 3.
Environmentally related taxes,8 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 revenue9 (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, 2026[58]).10
Examination of taxes for the 27 Asian and Pacific economies for which information is available demonstrates that revenue from environmentally related taxes as a share of GDP ranged from 0.003% in Papua New Guinea to 2.1% in the Solomon Islands in 2024 (Figure 1.17). On average, ERTR amounted to 0.8% of GDP in the Asia-Pacific region in 2024.11
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 2023 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, 2026[58]).
ERTR in the Solomon Islands (2.1%) was 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 Lao PDR (1.8%), Bhutan (1.5%), Korea (1.4%), Pakistan (1.3%) and New Zealand (1.2%).
Asian and Pacific economies relied on a range of bases for their ERTR in 2024:
In Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong (China), Kyrgyzstan, the Maldives, Nauru, Papua New Guinea and Tonga, 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 the Maldives, Malaysia, Mongolia, Bhutan and China (99.2%, 92.5%, 75.2%, 67.4% and 55.1%, 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 the Marshall Islands and Viet Nam, and accounted for over 60% of ERTR in Georgia, Japan, Korea, 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 59.4% of Kazakhstan’s ERTR in 2024.
There are notable differences in the composition of ERTR in Asian and Pacific economies compared with African, LAC and OECD countries. In 2024, revenue from transport taxes, energy taxes and resource taxes generated similar shares of total ERTR in the Asia-Pacific region (36.1%, 32.8% and 29.4% respectively), whereas energy taxes accounted for the majority of ERTR in other regions (70.4% in the OECD, 66.3% in Africa [2023 figures] and 58.2% 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[59]) as “one of the most important policy challenges for developing Asian economies”. UNESCAP (2016[60]) 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 share of tax revenue attributed to different levels of government in 2024: 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 are 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 2024, the share of sub-national tax revenue ranged from 3.0% of total tax revenue in Georgia to 31.7% in China, averaging 14.0% across the region.12 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 24.0% in 2015 to 30.8% in 2024, while China’s sub-national share had dropped the most between 2015 and 2024, by 18.9 p.p.
As a share of GDP, sub-national tax revenue was also relatively high in Japan (7.5%, 2023 figure), China (6.2%), Australia (5.7%, 2023 figure), Kazakhstan (5.4%) and Korea (4.5%) in 2024, while it was relatively low in Thailand (0.7%), Georgia (0.8%) and Pakistan (0.9%). 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[61]). 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. Finally, following the implementation of the Property Tax Act of 2022, property taxes previously collected by municipal authorities in Bhutan were consolidated under a new centrally administered property tax system, resulting in all tax revenues being recorded under the central government from 2024.
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[62]).
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 SSCs were under 5% of total tax revenue in Armenia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka in 2024. Revenue from social security funds was above the average of 18.5% of total tax revenue in seven economies in 2024: 40.2% in the Marshall Islands, 39.1% in Japan (2023 figure), 33.5% in China, 30.2% in Korea, 30.0% in Viet Nam, 24.1% in Azerbaijan and 20.0% in Mongolia. Since 2015, the share of tax revenue attributed to social security funds has increased the most in Viet Nam (6.9 p.p.) and Azerbaijan (6.6 p.p.).
Percentage of total tax revenue
Note: Data for Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand are taken from Revenue Statistics 2025 (OECD, 2025[2]). Sub-national figures include data of regional/provincial, state and local governments. For Australia and Japan, 2024 corresponds to 2023 data.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on OECD (2026[6]).
The 38 economies included in this publication can be grouped by sub-region and income level to facilitate comparisons in tax structures and revenue mobilisation trends across Asia and the Pacific. The sub-regional classifications follow those used by the ADB, while income groups are based on the World Bank classification system. These groupings help identify common economic characteristics and shared policy challenges. However, averages should be interpreted with caution, as some groups include only a small number of participating economies and may not include some of the region’s largest economies. In addition, group averages presented in this publication are calculated only for economies participating in Revenue Statistics in Asia and the Pacific.
Sub-regions in Asia and the Pacific
The average tax-to-GDP ratios for East Asia, the Pacific, and West and Central Asia exceeded the Asia-Pacific average in 2024, standing respectively at 24.3%, 22.9%, and 22.0% (Figure 1.18). Southeast Asia and South Asia were below the Asia-Pacific average of 19.7% (at 14.0% and 14.2%, respectively). Between 2014 and 2024 (2019-24 for East Asia, due to data limitations), all sub-regions in the Asia-Pacific increased their average tax-to-GDP ratios, with the exception of Southeast Asia, which registered a decline of 1.2 p.p. Increases over this period ranged from 1.3 p.p. in East Asia to 2.3 p.p. in the Pacific.
Percentage of GDP
Note: The Asia-Pacific average includes economies in the following subregions, as defined by the ADB: West and Central Asia (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan); East Asia (China, Hong Kong (China), Japan, Korea and Mongolia); South Asia (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka); Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam); and the Pacific (Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga and Vanuatu).
Source: Authors’ calculations based on OECD (2026[6]).
Tax-to-GDP ratios increased in most Asia-Pacific sub-regions between 2023 and 2024, with the largest increase observed in South Asia (1.2 p.p.), driven primarily by higher VAT revenues and, to a lesser extent, increases in revenues from CIT and other taxes on goods and services (Table 1.4). East Asia also recorded a relatively strong increase (0.5 p.p.), supported by higher revenues from income taxes and SSCs. In Southeast Asia and the Pacific, tax-to-GDP ratios increased more moderately, although the drivers differed across the two subregions: higher corporate and personal income tax revenues contributed most in the Pacific, while VAT and other consumption taxes supported the increase in Southeast Asia.
West and Central Asia was the only sub-region where the average tax-to-GDP ratio declined in 2024 (by 0.3 p.p.). This decrease was driven mainly by lower revenues from VAT and, to a lesser extent, CIT, partly reflecting weaker commodity-related revenues in some economies in this region.
Year-on-year changes, p.p.
Note: “Other taxes on goods and services” includes all taxes on goods and services (heading 5000) excluding VAT (heading 5111). “Other taxes” includes taxes on payroll (heading 3000), property taxes (4000) and miscellaneous and unallocable taxes (heading 6000). The Asia-Pacific average includes economies in the following subregions, as defined by the ADB: West and Central Asia (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan); East Asia (China, Hong Kong (China), Japan, Korea and Mongolia); South Asia (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka); Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam); and the Pacific (Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga and Vanuatu).
Source: Authors’ calculations based on OECD (2026[6]).
Taxes on goods and services remained the largest source of tax revenue across all subregions in 2024, although their relative importance varied considerably (Figure 1.19). These taxes accounted for more than 50% of total tax revenues in West and Central Asia, South Asia and the Pacific. Tax structures in West and Central Asia and Southeast Asia broadly mirrored the Asia-Pacific average, while other subregions displayed more distinctive patterns.
In South Asia, PIT and SSCs combined represented less than 10% of total tax revenues collected in 2024, significantly below the Asia-Pacific average of 26.5%. In the Pacific, PIT revenues represented a comparatively important source of revenue, accounting for 28.1% of total tax revenues, almost equal to VAT revenues (28.2%), and considerably above the Asia-Pacific average PIT share of 18.2%.
East Asia observed a more diversified tax structure, with CIT, SSCs and VAT each accounting for 20%-25% of total tax revenues. In these economies, other taxes on goods and services represented only 5.9% of total tax revenues, the lowest share among the sub-regions. At the same time, East Asia recorded by far the largest share of SSCs across all sub-regions at 24.6%, almost three times the Asia-Pacific average. All economies in the East Asia sub-region operate a social security system, with the exception of Hong Kong (China).
Percentage of total tax revenue and percentage of GDP
Notes: The sum of the average shares of the different tax categories may not equal the reported total. ‘Other taxes’ includes taxes recorded under headings 1300, 3000, 4000 and 6000, as detailed in the OECD Interpretative Guide. The Asia-Pacific average includes economies in the following subregions, as defined by the ADB: West and Central Asia (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan); East Asia (China, Hong Kong (China), Japan, Korea and Mongolia); South Asia (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka); Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam); and the Pacific (Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga and Vanuatu).
Source: Authors’ calculations based on OECD (2026[6]).
Tax revenues by income group
Asia-Pacific economies can also be grouped by income level according to the World Bank classification.13 In 2024, average tax-to-GDP ratios in high-income and upper middle-income economies exceeded the Asia-Pacific average of 19.7%, standing at 23.4% and 21.4% of GDP, respectively (Figure 1.20). Lower middle-income economies collected lower levels of tax revenues relative to GDP, with an average tax-to-GDP ratio of 15.0%.
Between 2014 and 2024, average tax-to-GDP ratios increased across all income groups in Asia and the Pacific, although the increase was only marginal among lower middle-income economies (0.1 p.p.). High-income economies recorded a significant rise in tax revenues until 2019, when their average tax-to-GDP ratio peaked at 26.3%, before declining in subsequent years. Despite this, the average tax-to-GDP ratio in high-income economies still increased by 2.2 p.p. between 2014 and 2024 overall. Upper middle-income economies also recorded a substantial increase over the period, with their average tax-to-GDP ratio rising by 2.0 p.p.
Percentage of GDP
Note: Income groups are based on the World Bank classification. The Asia-Pacific average includes the following economies by income group: High income (Australia, Hong Kong (China), Japan, Korea, Nauru, New Zealand and Singapore); Upper middle income (Armenia, Azerbaijan, China, Fiji, Georgia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Samoa, Thailand and Tonga); Lower middle income (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, Vanuatu and Viet Nam). The World Bank does not classify the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau by income group.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on OECD (2026[6]).
Tax-to-GDP ratios increased in both upper middle-income and lower middle-income Asia-Pacific economies between 2023 and 2024, while high-income economies recorded a decline (Table 1.5). Upper middle-income economies registered the largest increase (0.7 p.p.), driven primarily by PIT revenues and, to a lesser extent, SSCs and CIT revenues. Lower middle-income economies also recorded a sizeable increase (0.6 p.p.), supported mainly by higher VAT revenues, alongside more moderate increases in PIT revenues.
By contrast, high-income economies experienced a decline of 0.7 p.p. in their average tax-to-GDP ratio. Lower revenues from PIT and CIT were the principal driver of this decline, while revenues from VAT and SSCs remained broadly unchanged as a share of GDP.
Tax structures differ significantly across income groups in Asia and the Pacific. Taxes on goods and services were the main source of revenue in both middle-income groups in 2024, accounting for more than half of total tax revenues (Figure 1.21). By contrast, high-income economies relied more heavily on taxes on income and profits, which represented almost 50% of total tax revenues. PIT played a particularly important role in this group, accounting for 27.3% of total tax revenues. In both middle-income groups, however, CIT represented a larger source of revenue than PIT.
Year-on-year changes, p.p.
Note: “Other taxes on goods and services” includes all taxes on goods and services (heading 5000) excluding VAT (heading 5111). “Other taxes” includes taxes on payroll (heading 3000), property taxes (4000) and miscellaneous and unallocable taxes (heading 6000). Income groups are based on the World Bank classification. The Asia-Pacific average includes the following economies by income group: High income (Australia, Hong Kong (China), Japan, Korea, Nauru, New Zealand and Singapore); Upper middle income (Armenia, Azerbaijan, China, Fiji, Georgia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Samoa, Thailand and Tonga); Lower middle income (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, Vanuatu and Viet Nam). The World Bank does not classify the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau into income groups.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on OECD (2026[6]).
Taxes on goods and services accounted for a comparatively smaller share of revenues in high income economies on average, representing just over one quarter of total tax revenues in 2024. Conversely, other taxes (which include unallocable income taxes, payroll taxes, property taxes and miscellaneous taxes) played a more important role, accounting for 13.1% of total tax revenues. This was influenced in part by economies such as Hong Kong (China) and Singapore, where these tax categories accounted for over 20% of total tax revenues.
In 2024, SSCs were also a major tax revenue source in high-income and upper middle-income economies, where their average share of GDP – at around 10% – exceeded the Asia-Pacific average. By contrast, lower middle-income economies recorded low SSC revenues relative to GDP.
Percentage of total tax revenues and percentage of GDP
Notes: The sum of the average shares of the different tax categories may not equal the reported total. ‘Other taxes’ includes taxes recorded under headings 1300, 3000, 4000 and 6000, as detailed in the OECD Interpretative Guide. Income groups are based on the World Bank classification. The Asia-Pacific average includes the following economies by income group: High income (Australia, Hong Kong (China), Japan, Korea, Nauru, New Zealand and Singapore); Upper middle income (Armenia, Azerbaijan, China, Fiji, Georgia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Samoa, Thailand and Tonga); Lower middle income (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, Vanuatu and Viet Nam). The World Bank does not classify the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau into income groups.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on OECD (2026[6]).
A complete picture of public finances requires revenue statistics that go beyond taxation, especially for many Asian and Pacific economies, that obtain substantial revenues in the form of grants or royalties from natural resources, including oil, minerals and fisheries. This publication includes information on non-tax revenue for 24 Asia-Pacific economies. Non-tax revenues are 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 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
On average, non-tax revenues in 2024 amounted to 22.3% of GDP among the 24 economies reporting these data for this edition of Revenue Statistics in Asia and the Pacific. Non-tax revenues ranged from 1.1% of GDP in Sri Lanka to 171.9%14 in Tokelau (Figure 1.22).
Tokelau, Niue, the Marshall Islands and Nauru were the only Asia-Pacific economies in which non-tax revenues exceeded tax revenues in 2024. In these four economies, non-tax revenues stood above 50% of GDP, reflecting substantial grants from foreign governments and international organisations, as well as revenues from fishing licences and vessel day schemes (VDS). Excluding these four economies, the Asia-Pacific average for non-tax revenues stood at 5.7% of GDP in 2024.
Non-tax revenues also represented a significant share of GDP in Tonga (14.7%), Vanuatu (12.5%) and Bhutan (12.1%). In the remaining sixteen economies for which data were available, non-tax revenues were below 10% of GDP.
Non-tax revenues do not affect public finances in the same way as tax revenues. Taxes are unrequited, meaning that individual tax payments are not linked to the provision of a specific good or service, even though tax revenues are used to finance government expenditure. By contrast, some non-tax revenues are directly associated with government spending. For example, revenues from the sale of goods and services require the government to provide the corresponding goods and services, which are recorded as expenditures.
The average sum of total tax and non-tax revenues for the 24 Asia-Pacific economies with non-tax data was 41.2% of GDP in 2024, ranging from 13.7% in Sri Lanka to 187.0% in Tokelau. Excluding Tokelau, Niue, the Marshall Islands and Nauru, total revenues would have averaged 23.9% of GDP across the Asia-Pacific region in 2024.
Percentage of GDP
Note: Tax-to-GDP ratios and non-tax-to-GDP ratios need to be interpreted with caution for some countries due to incomplete data.
Source: Authors’ based on OECD (2026[6]).
Structure of non-tax revenue
Figure 1.23 shows the contribution of each major category of non-tax revenues to total non-tax revenues for each Asia-Pacific economy with available data in 2024. In this figure, “Other NTR” includes fines, penalties, forfeits, miscellaneous and other unidentified revenues. In Panel A, revenues are shown as a percentage of total non-tax revenues, while in Panel B they are shown as a percentage of GDP.
Economies are ordered according to the main source of non-tax revenues measured as a percentage of the total. In 2024, the share of each of these categories in total non-tax revenue varied across the 24 economies, and six distinct groups of countries are apparent:
Grants were the largest source of non-tax revenue for eight Asia-Pacific economies in 2024: Tonga (79.2% of the total), Niue (71.0%), the Marshall Islands (68.5%), Samoa (67.2%), the Cook Islands (61.9%), Tokelau (51.1%), Papua New Guinea (49.6%) and Bhutan (48.6%). Although these economies are classified by the World Bank as middle income, several remain relatively dependent on external assistance to support domestic budgets due to structural and geographic constraints. Aid flows to Pacific Island economies are highly volatile, complicating fiscal planning and reducing predictability for the financing of key public investment projects (World Bank, 2024[63]). As such, several Pacific Island economies have recently implemented strategies aimed at strengthening domestic revenue mobilisation and reducing reliance on external assistance, including tax reforms, the development of the tourism sector, and the expansion of fisheries-related revenues under regional vessel day schemes (Edwards and Obeyesekere, 2017[64]; OECD, 2022[28]). On average, grant revenues declined by 3.4 p.p. from 14.3% of GDP in 2023 to 10.9% in 2024.
Property income accounted for the majority of total non-tax revenue in around half of the economies with available data in 2024, with four economies receiving most of their non-tax revenue from rents and royalties: Kazakhstan (50.8% of total non-tax revenue), Mongolia (64.7%), the Maldives (41.2%) and Lao PDR (31.5%). In Kazakhstan, higher royalty revenues reflected the expansion of the oil sector in recent years. In Mongolia, mining royalties – particularly from coal and copper extraction – have increased substantially since the COVID-19 pandemic alongside a recovery in commodity exports. In the Maldives, rents and royalties were driven mainly by lease payments related to tourism resort development. In Lao PDR, royalties from hydropower generation and revenues linked to natural resource exploitation were major sources of non-tax revenue. On average, rents and royalties represented 5.6% of GDP in 2024 among the 24 economies reporting data, representing a 0.8 p.p. increase from the year prior. Revenues from rents and royalties increased in eleven economies and declined in twelve between 2023 and 2024, reflecting different price and production trends across commodities.
In Pakistan (76.1%), Singapore (57.6%), Thailand (38.6%), Hong Kong (China) (33.5%), Kyrgyzstan (31.0%) and Fiji (25.1%), property income was derived predominantly from interest and dividends from state-owned enterprises, government investments and transfers from central banks. On average, revenues from interest and dividends declined by 0.3 p.p. between 2023 and 2024 among the 24 economies, amounting to 1.1% of GDP in 2024.
The Philippines was the only economy in Asia and the Pacific where other property income accounted for the largest share, at 45.3% of non-tax revenue. This mainly reflects income collected by the Bureau of the Treasury from government financial assets and investments, including earnings related to government securities and other treasury operations. Only two other Asia-Pacific economies recorded revenues under this category in 2024 – Cambodia and Kazakhstan –and in both cases the amounts were marginal, at below 0.01% of GDP.
Sales of goods and services accounted for the largest share of non-tax revenue in Viet Nam (59.3% of the total), Cambodia (52.3%) and Sri Lanka (45.1%). These revenues include administrative fees – such as passport fees or regulatory inspection fees – as well as rents from produced assets. On average, receipts from sales of goods and services declined by 0.2 p.p. in 2024 among the Asia-Pacific economies with non-tax revenue data, representing 2.6% of GDP in that year. Fourteen economies generated non-tax revenues from sales of goods and services equivalent to at least 1% of GDP.
Finally, Vanuatu (77.7%) and Nauru (22.3%) received most of their non-tax revenue from miscellaneous and unidentified revenue sources. The average across the 24 economies analysed in this section stood at 2.1% of GDP in 2024, up 0.3 p.p. relative to the previous year.
Notes: Other non-tax revenue (NTR) includes fines, penalties, forfeits and other unidentified non-tax revenues.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on OECD (2026[6]).
Changes in non-tax revenues across Asia and the Pacific
Between 2023 and 2024, non-tax revenue increased in eleven economies and declined in thirteen. The increases exceeded 1.0 p.p. in only two countries: Tokelau (28.5 p.p.) and Pakistan (1.5 p.p.) (Figure 1.24). In Tokelau, the increase was driven by a combination of large inflows of external budgetary assistance and higher rents and royalties related to the use of its exclusive economic zone. In Pakistan, the increase was almost entirely attributable to higher revenues from interest and dividends, particularly transfers of surplus profits from the State Bank of Pakistan.
Among the thirteen economies that recorded declines in non-tax revenues in 2024, decreases exceeded 1.0 p.p. of GDP in Niue (-76.8 p.p.), Nauru (-5.7 p.p.), Tonga (-4.3 p.p.), the Cook Islands (-3.4 p.p.), Vanuatu (-2.8 p.p.), Bhutan (-1.5 p.p.), the Maldives (-1.3 p.p.) and Samoa (-1.1 p.p.). In several Pacific Island economies, these declines were largely driven by lower external grants received in 2024. In Nauru and the Cook Islands, lower rents and royalties mostly reflected declines in fishing licence revenues. In the Maldives, the decline was mainly attributable to lower miscellaneous revenues. In Bhutan, lower dividends from publicly owned enterprises and reduced transfers from the central bank contributed to the decline, while in Samoa, alongside lower grant inflows, lower revenues from interest and dividends also weighed on overall non-tax revenues.
Percentage points (p.p.)
Notes: Other non-tax revenue (NTR) includes fines, penalties, forfeits and other unidentified revenues.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on OECD (2026[6]).
Table 1.6 presents a longer-term trend of non-tax revenues across Asia and the Pacific, showing total non-tax revenues as a share of GDP from 2010 to 2024 for the economies with 24 available data.
Non-tax revenue has increased since 2010 (or earliest available year) as a share of GDP in twelve of the 24 economies for which data on non-tax revenue are available. The largest increases occurred in Nauru (21.3 p.p. since 2014), Tokelau (17.3 p.p.) and the Marshall Islands (6.3 p.p.). The largest declines were in Bhutan (-7.3 p.p.), the Cook Islands (-5.3 p.p.), the Maldives (-3.7 p.p.), Lao PDR (-3.6 p.p.) and Hong Kong (China) (-3.3 p.p.).
The upward trend in non-tax revenues in the Marshall Islands and Nauru has been driven largely by higher property income derived from fishing activities. Fisheries revenues increased further after both economies became parties to the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA), which administers the regional VDS. Under the VDS, a fixed number of fishing days are allocated among member countries, which can then sell or trade access rights to their exclusive economic zones. The scheme was designed to limit overfishing, manage the allocation of fishing opportunities, and increase the economic returns received by Pacific Island economies from their fisheries resources. Prior to the introduction of the VDS, most PNA members received relatively limited revenues from fisheries. In recent years, however, member economies have jointly collected around USD 500 million annually from tuna fisheries, around seven times more than in 2010 (FFA, 2024[65]). These additional revenues have also helped reduce dependence on grants in several Pacific Island economies. Tokelau’s non-tax revenues, however, remain heavily dependent on external assistance, resulting in a highly volatile non-tax-to-GDP ratio over the past decade. In 2024, non-tax revenues increased significantly due to large inflows of grants from New Zealand.
Grants have consistently represented the largest source of non-tax revenue in both Bhutan and the Cook Islands. However, grant revenues have grown more slowly than nominal GDP in recent years, contributing to declining non-tax-to-GDP ratios in both economies. In the Maldives, rents from tourist resorts constitute the largest source of property income and have remained broadly stable in nominal terms over the past decade. Finally, in Hong Kong (China), where sales of goods and services have historically been the main source of non-tax revenue, the sharp decline in land premium revenues since the pandemic contributed significantly to the fall in non-tax revenues, with collections in 2024 amounting to only around 10% of their 2019 level. Land premium revenues, which are derived mainly from public land sales and modifications to existing land leases, have been affected by a sluggish local property market in recent years (Inland Revenue Department, 2026[66]).
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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 38 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 2023 data are used to calculate the regional average in 2024.
← 4. In this chapter, the group Pacific Islands covers the thirteen 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, Tonga 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. The Asia-Pacific and sub-regional averages for each tax category as a percentage of GDP or as a percentage of total tax revenues are calculated using economies with available data. As such, economies with missing data for a given tax category (e.g. PIT, CIT, SSCs) are excluded from the average of that category, which may lead to its misestimation. For example, economies that operate a social security system but could not provide revenue data are excluded from the calculation of the average share for this category. Consequently, the sum of the different category averages may not coincide with the Asia-Pacific or sub-regional averages of total tax revenue.
← 7. (OECD, 2025[2]) does not provide 2024 data for Australia and Japan so 2023 data are used instead.
← 8. 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, 2026[69]).
← 9. 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, 2026[58]).
← 10. 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, 2026[58]).
← 11. These figures need to be treated with caution as some environmentally related taxes may not be captured if the data are not sufficiently disaggregated.
← 12. Sub-national data in 2024 were provided by Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Georgia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Thailand and the Philippines. Data for 2023 were used for Australia and Japan.
← 13. The Asia-Pacific economies included in this publication span three World Bank income groups and do not include any low-income economies. The sample comprises 7 high-income economies (Australia, Hong Kong (China), Japan, Korea, Nauru, New Zealand and Singapore), 14 upper middle-income economies (Armenia, Azerbaijan, China, Fiji, Georgia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Samoa, Thailand and Tonga), and 14 lower middle-income economies (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, Vanuatu and Viet Nam). The World Bank does not classify the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau by income group.
← 14. Non-tax revenues can approach or exceed 100% of GDP in small economies because while GDP measures domestic production, non-tax revenues may include large external inflows not directly linked to domestic production. In several Pacific Island economies, for instance, government non-tax revenues can be exceptionally high relative to GDP due to sources such as fishing license fees, income from sovereign wealth funds, and foreign grants. Since grants and some investment income affect government resources without entering GDP directly, non-tax revenue can become unusually large relative to GDP and, in some cases, exceed 100%, particularly in very small island economies with narrow production bases such as Tokelau.