Tax Revenue - Ranking 2017

In 2025, the top of the tax revenue ranking is defined by high-income welfare states and developing economies with large formal sectors. Lesotho leads at 38.4% of GDP, driven by Southern African Customs Union receipts, while Norway (32.7%) and Denmark (29.2%) reflect Nordic social models that rely on broad-based taxation to fund extensive public services. At the bottom, Somalia’s near-zero figure of 0.0001% and the UAE’s 0.6% stem from minimal state capacity or reliance on hydrocarbon revenues rather than broad tax bases. Angola’s 3.9% similarly reflects an oil-dependent fiscal structure. The data year 2025 captures a moment where global tax competition and digitalization pressures are intensifying. If low-tax jurisdictions like the UAE introduce corporate income taxes or if fragile states like Somalia build administrative capacity, the bottom of the ranking could see meaningful upward movement in the coming decade.