Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Eswatini
Eswatini: Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality was 27.7% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Eswatini, 1981–2023
Source: UNU-WIDER Government Revenue Dataset (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
In 2023, tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Eswatini stood at 27.7%.
The figure is up 20.8% on the previous year and down 1.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Eswatini peaked at 31.0% in 2006 and was at its lowest, 15.8%, in 1986.
Eswatini ranks 51st of 187 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 43 years of available data.
Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Eswatini, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 17.1% | — |
| 1982 | 21.1% | +23.3% |
| 1983 | 20.4% | -3.2% |
| 1984 | 20.5% | +0.3% |
| 1985 | 19.2% | -6.0% |
| 1986 | 15.8% | -18.0% |
| 1987 | 18.4% | +16.5% |
| 1988 | 17.3% | -6.0% |
| 1989 | 19.3% | +12.0% |
| 1990 | 20.9% | +8.3% |
| 1991 | 20.6% | -1.8% |
| 1992 | 19.0% | -7.4% |
| 1993 | 18.5% | -2.8% |
| 1994 | 19.1% | +3.5% |
| 1995 | 20.1% | +4.9% |
| 1996 | 20.6% | +2.6% |
| 1997 | 20.9% | +1.3% |
| 1998 | 20.5% | -1.6% |
| 1999 | 22.0% | +7.0% |
| 2000 | 18.1% | -17.5% |
| 2001 | 17.7% | -2.2% |
| 2002 | 17.1% | -3.8% |
| 2003 | 18.2% | +6.4% |
| 2004 | 22.2% | +22.4% |
| 2005 | 22.0% | -1.0% |
| 2006 | 31.0% | +40.7% |
| 2007 | 27.3% | -11.9% |
| 2008 | 29.8% | +9.3% |
| 2009 | 25.3% | -15.2% |
| 2010 | 16.0% | -36.7% |
| 2011 | 16.3% | +1.9% |
| 2012 | 28.2% | +73.1% |
| 2013 | 28.0% | -0.8% |
| 2014 | 28.8% | +3.0% |
| 2015 | 26.4% | -8.5% |
| 2016 | 23.3% | -11.6% |
| 2017 | 26.7% | +14.5% |
| 2018 | 24.2% | -9.3% |
| 2019 | 25.2% | +4.1% |
| 2020 | 28.1% | +11.7% |
| 2021 | 24.1% | -14.2% |
| 2022 | 22.9% | -4.9% |
| 2023 | 27.7% | +20.8% |
Eswatini compared with similar countries
- Eswatini's 27.7% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 14.9%, 1.9× the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Eswatini's 27.7% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 13.5%, 2.0× the median. (45 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Eswatini changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | +73.1% | 16.3% | 28.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 18.8% | 15.8% | 21.1% | 9 |
| 1990s | 20.2% | 18.5% | 22.0% | 10 |
| 2000s | 22.9% | 17.1% | 31.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 24.3% | 16.0% | 28.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 25.7% | 22.9% | 28.1% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Eswatini
More poverty & inequality data for Eswatini
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 1 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 2.75 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 1,228 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate -23.13 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 27.73 (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, annual growth rate 20.83 % change on previous year (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Eswatini?
- Tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Eswatini was 27.7% in 2023, according to UNU-WIDER Government Revenue Dataset (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality recorded in Eswatini?
- The highest recorded value was 31.0% in 2006.
- What is the lowest tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality recorded in Eswatini?
- The lowest recorded value was 15.8% in 1986.
- How does Eswatini rank for tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality?
- Eswatini ranks 51st out of 187 countries with data for 2023.
- Is tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality rising or falling in Eswatini?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Eswatini data come from?
- The figures come from UNU-WIDER Government Revenue Dataset (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 43 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Taxes include direct and indirect taxes as well as social contributions. The Gini coefficient measures inequality on a scale from 0 to 1. Higher values indicate higher inequality.