Tax revenue as share of GDP in United States of America

United States of America: Tax revenue as share of GDP was 27.1% in 2017. ▼ Falling

Latest (2017)
27.1%
Change on year
up 4.8%
World rank
39th
of 77 countries
All-time high
28.2%
in 2000
All-time low
23.0%
in 2009
Years of data
28
1990–2017

Tax revenue as share of GDP in United States of America, 1990–2017

01020301990200320171990: 26 %1991: 25.8 %1992: 25.7 %1993: 25.9 %1994: 26.2 %1995: 26.5 %1996: 27 %1997: 27.4 %1998: 27.8 %1999: 27.8 %2000: 28.2 %2001: 27.2 %2002: 24.9 %2003: 24.4 %2004: 24.6 %2005: 25.9 %2006: 26.7 %2007: 26.7 %2008: 25.7 %2009: 23 %2010: 23.5 %2011: 23.9 %2012: 24.1 %2013: 25.7 %2014: 26 %2015: 26.2 %2016: 25.9 %2017: 27.1 %

Source: OECD (2018) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

United States of America recorded 27.1% for tax revenue as share of gdp in 2017.

The figure is up 4.8% on the previous year and up 1.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, tax revenue as share of gdp in United States of America peaked at 28.2% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 23.0%, in 2009.

United States of America ranks 39th of 77 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 28 years of available data.

Tax revenue as share of GDP in United States of America, year by year

Annual values for Tax revenue as share of GDP in United States of America, 1990 to 2017.
Year % Change
1990 26.0%
1991 25.8% -0.7%
1992 25.7% -0.5%
1993 25.9% +0.8%
1994 26.2% +1.3%
1995 26.5% +1.0%
1996 27.0% +1.8%
1997 27.4% +1.6%
1998 27.8% +1.5%
1999 27.8% +0.2%
2000 28.2% +1.3%
2001 27.2% -3.7%
2002 24.9% -8.2%
2003 24.4% -2.2%
2004 24.6% +0.9%
2005 25.9% +5.3%
2006 26.7% +2.8%
2007 26.7% +0.2%
2008 25.7% -3.8%
2009 23.0% -10.4%
2010 23.5% +2.1%
2011 23.9% +1.7%
2012 24.1% +0.7%
2013 25.7% +6.6%
2014 26.0% +1.3%
2015 26.2% +1.0%
2016 25.9% -1.3%
2017 27.1% +4.8%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 26.6% 25.7% 27.8% 10
2000s 25.7% 23.0% 28.2% 10
2010s 25.3% 23.5% 27.1% 8

Countries ranked near United States of America

  1. 36 Belize 28.2% compare
  2. 37 Australia 27.8% compare
  3. 38 Jamaica 27.3% compare
  4. 40 Morocco 26.4% compare
  5. 41 Türkiye 24.9% compare
  6. 42 Costa Rica 24.1% compare

See the full ranking of 77 places →

More economy & growth data for United States of America

All data for United States of America →

Frequently asked questions

What is tax revenue as share of gdp in United States of America?
Tax revenue as share of gdp in United States of America was 27.1% in 2017, according to OECD (2018) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest tax revenue as share of gdp recorded in United States of America?
The highest recorded value was 28.2% in 2000.
What is the lowest tax revenue as share of gdp recorded in United States of America?
The lowest recorded value was 23.0% in 2009.
How does United States of America rank for tax revenue as share of gdp?
United States of America ranks 39th out of 77 countries with data for 2017.
Is tax revenue as share of gdp rising or falling in United States of America?
Over the last ten years it is up 1.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this United States of America data come from?
The figures come from OECD (2018) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Tax revenue as share of GDP. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 28 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Tax revenue as share of GDP in United States of America. Statizoid, drawing on OECD (2018) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 06 September 2026, from https://economy.statizoid.com/stat/tax-revenue-share-gdp-oecd-grsd/united-states/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://economy.statizoid.com/stat/tax-revenue-share-gdp-oecd-grsd/united-states/">Tax revenue as share of GDP in United States of America</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Tax revenue as share of GDP
Unit
%
Source
OECD (2018) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
77 places, 1,982 data points, 1990–2017
Last refreshed

The level of total tax revenues as a percentage of GDP. Total tax include sub-national revenues, and compulsory social security contributions paid to the general government.