Progress in domestic resource mobilisation is a prerequisite for sustainable development and features among the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Measuring progress in this area is essential to countries as they seek to address profound challenges, both domestic and international.
Global tax revenues
High-quality, harmonised data on tax revenues are fundamental to analysing tax and customs policies and tracking progress in domestic resource mobilisation. They also create a shared foundation for international co-operation on tax matters and beyond.
The Global Revenue Statistics initiative provides unparalleled access to detailed, comparable and reliable tax revenue data for a large number of economies worldwide.
Key link
Key messages
Most countries have made significant progress in mobilising domestic revenues during the 21st century but progress has stalled in some regions, in part due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Different taxes have different economic and distributional impacts and can promote or deter certain activities; understanding how the tax mix varies between countries and across regions is key to appreciating the extent to which tax systems contribute to inclusive and sustainable growth.
Context
Revenue levels vary widely across countries and between regions
Graph from the Global Revenue Statistics Database brochure showing the tax-to-GDP ratios for 139 economies included in the database (as of December 2025) in different colour boxes, sorted by their tax-to-GDP ratio.
Average tax structures vary across the OECD, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia-Pacific and Africa
Graph from the Global Revenue Statistics Database brochure showing the tax mix across different regions in 2023.
Since 2010, tax-to-GDP ratios have increased in over two thirds of the economies included in the Global Revenue Statistics Database
Graph from the Global Revenue Statistics Database brochure showing the biggest changes in tax-to-GDP ratios by country and changes in regional averages between 2010 and 2023.
