Revenue Statistics in Latin America and the Caribbean 2026

Executive summary

Tax revenues increased as a share of GDP between 2023 and 2024 in just over half of the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) covered by this report, while the unweighted average tax-to-GDP ratio for the LAC region rose by 0.2 percentage points (p.p.) to 21.7%. The rise in the regional average was largely driven by a strong increase in revenues from taxes on goods and services in Cuba; if Cuba is excluded, the LAC average remained unchanged in 2024 from the previous year amid subdued economic growth and volatile commodity prices.

Tax-to-GDP ratios in the LAC region in 2024

In 2024, tax-to-GDP ratios in the LAC region ranged from 9.2% in Guyana to 33.7% in Brazil. Between 2023 and 2024, the tax-to-GDP ratio increased in 15 countries while it declined in 13 countries. In all but three countries where the tax-to-GDP ratio declined in 2024, increases in nominal tax revenues were outpaced by growth in nominal GDP.

Changes in the tax-to-GDP ratio between 2023 and 2024 ranged from a decline of 3.0 p.p. in Trinidad and Tobago to an increase of 5.0 p.p.in Cuba. The largest increases (of more than 1.5 p.p.) occurred in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Brazil and Cuba, where these were mainly the result of tax reforms. In contrast, the two largest declines over the period were principally due to economic factors: the fall in Trinidad and Tobago was driven by declines in revenues from corporate income tax (CIT) caused by lower international energy prices in 2023 as well as falls in natural gas production, while the 2.4 p.p. fall in Guyana was a result of extraordinary economic growth (notably in the oil sector) outpacing increases in tax revenues.

In 2024, revenues from value added taxes (VAT) and from other taxes on goods and services (including excises, customs duties and general taxes) increased as a share of GDP by 0.1 p.p. and 0.3 p.p. on average across the LAC region respectively. Revenues from CIT and personal income tax (PIT) fell by 0.2 p.p. and 0.1 p.p. respectively from the previous year on average.

Tax revenue trends varied significantly across LAC’s sub-regions in 2024. The average tax-to-GDP ratio in Central America and Mexico (including Cuba) increased by 0.7 p.p. to 19.8% in 2024, while the average for South America rose by 0.1 p.p. to 22.9%. In contrast, the Caribbean’s tax-to-GDP ratio fell by 0.2 p.p. from the previous year to 22.3%.

Looking further back, the average tax-to-GDP ratio for the LAC region rose by 1.5 p.p. between 2014 and 2024, largely due to increases in revenues from VAT and from taxes on income and profits (of 0.3 p.p. and 0.6 p.p. respectively). The gap between the LAC and OECD average tax-to-GDP ratio narrowed only slightly over this period, from 12.6 p.p. in 2014 to 12.3 p.p. in 2024.

Between 2014 and 2024, 21 countries experienced an increase in their tax-to-GDP ratio while seven countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Cuba, Guyana, Panama, Peru, and Trinidad and Tobago) registered a decline. Tax revenue per capita increased in all countries for which data is available, more than doubling in the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Guyana in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms. Tax revenue per capita in 2024 varied greatly across the LAC region: in a quarter of LAC countries, tax revenue per capita was below USD 3 300 while in another quarter it exceeded USD 7 200 (both in PPP terms).

Tax structures in the LAC region

In 2024, taxes on goods and services generated 49.2% of total tax revenues in the LAC region on average, compared with less than a third in the OECD (31.2% in 2023, the latest year available). VAT was the principal source of this revenue in the LAC region in 2024, accounting for 28.9% of total tax revenues and amounting to 6.2% of GDP on average.

Taxes on income and profits generated 29.1% of total tax revenues in the LAC region in 2024. CIT and PIT accounted for 17.4% and 9.6% of total tax revenues respectively, compared with 11.9% and 23.7% in the OECD (2023 figures). The average share of social security contributions in total tax revenues was 15.9% in the LAC region in 2024, below the OECD average of 25.5% (2023 figure).

Health excise taxes in the LAC region

In 2024, revenues from health taxes – excise taxes on tobacco, alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) – amounted to 0.39% of GDP and generated 1.96% of total tax revenues in 17 LAC countries for which data is available. They ranged from less than 0.10% of GDP in Brazil to 0.69% of GDP in Nicaragua. Revenues from excises on alcohol amounted to 0.23% of GDP on average across the 17 countries, while revenues from excises on tobacco and SSBs amounted to 0.12% and 0.08% of GDP respectively. Between 2012 and 2024, health tax revenues fell by 0.12% of GDP on average across the 17 countries, mainly due to declines in revenues from tobacco excises that partly reflected a significant decrease in tobacco use in the LAC region. Revenues from excises on alcohol and SSBs were essentially unchanged between 2012 and 2024 (declining by 0.02 p.p.).

Special feature: Trends in fiscal revenues from non-renewable natural resources

Average hydrocarbon revenues among major oil and gas producers in the LAC region decreased from 4.1% of GDP in 2023 to 3.1% of GDP in 2024 amid strong market volatility. Decreases in Colombia and Trinidad and Tobago drove the overall decline, which was partly offset by higher oil revenues in Guyana. Meanwhile, average revenues from mining fell from 0.55% of GDP in 2023 to 0.47% of GDP in 2024, largely due to a sharp contraction in tax revenues in Colombia. In 2025, hydrocarbon revenues are projected to have fallen to 3.0% of GDP amid a sharp decline in prices whereas mining revenues are estimated to have risen to 0.63% of GDP, supported by exceptional increases in the price of gold, silver and, to a lesser extent, copper.

Revenue Statistics in Latin America and the Caribbean 2026 provides internationally comparable data on tax levels and tax structures for 29 LAC countries including Grenada and Suriname for the first time: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela. The LAC average represents the unweighted average of 28 countries included in this publication, excluding Venezuela due to data issues.

In this publication, “taxes” are defined as compulsory, unrequited payments to general government. Compulsory social security contributions (SSCs) paid to general government are classified as taxes. More information on the tax classification is set out in the Interpretative Guide in Annex A.