Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Iceland
Iceland: Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality was 35.6% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Iceland, 1980–2023
Source: UNU-WIDER Government Revenue Dataset (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
The most recent figure for tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Iceland is 35.6%, measured in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.4% on the previous year and up 3.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Iceland peaked at 50.3% in 2016 and was at its lowest, 27.5%, in 1985.
That places Iceland 20th out of 187 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 44 years of available data.
Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Iceland, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 28.7% | — |
| 1981 | 29.9% | +4.0% |
| 1982 | 30.1% | +1.0% |
| 1983 | 27.7% | -8.2% |
| 1984 | 28.9% | +4.4% |
| 1985 | 27.5% | -4.7% |
| 1986 | 27.8% | +1.0% |
| 1987 | 28.1% | +1.0% |
| 1988 | 30.6% | +9.1% |
| 1989 | 30.8% | +0.5% |
| 1990 | 30.3% | -1.5% |
| 1991 | 30.7% | +1.1% |
| 1992 | 31.6% | +2.9% |
| 1993 | 30.6% | -3.1% |
| 1994 | 30.1% | -1.4% |
| 1995 | 30.7% | +2.0% |
| 1996 | 31.9% | +3.8% |
| 1997 | 31.6% | -0.9% |
| 1998 | 33.6% | +6.4% |
| 1999 | 35.9% | +6.8% |
| 2000 | 35.9% | -0.1% |
| 2001 | 34.1% | -5.1% |
| 2002 | 33.8% | -0.9% |
| 2003 | 35.3% | +4.4% |
| 2004 | 36.3% | +3.0% |
| 2005 | 39.3% | +8.2% |
| 2006 | 39.6% | +0.6% |
| 2007 | 38.3% | -3.1% |
| 2008 | 34.2% | -10.8% |
| 2009 | 31.2% | -8.8% |
| 2010 | 32.1% | +3.0% |
| 2011 | 33.2% | +3.3% |
| 2012 | 34.0% | +2.3% |
| 2013 | 34.3% | +1.1% |
| 2014 | 37.1% | +8.1% |
| 2015 | 35.1% | -5.3% |
| 2016 | 50.3% | +43.1% |
| 2017 | 37.1% | -26.2% |
| 2018 | 36.5% | -1.8% |
| 2019 | 35.1% | -3.7% |
| 2020 | 36.2% | +3.2% |
| 2021 | 34.8% | -4.0% |
| 2022 | 35.1% | +0.9% |
| 2023 | 35.6% | +1.4% |
Iceland compared with similar countries
- Iceland's 35.6% is above the median for high income countries, which is 29.8%, 1.2× the median. (65 countries reporting)
- Iceland's 35.6% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 33.9%, 1.0× the median. (50 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Iceland 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | +43.1% | 35.1% | 50.3% |
| 2017 | -26.2% | 50.3% | 37.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 29.0% | 27.5% | 30.8% | 10 |
| 1990s | 31.7% | 30.1% | 35.9% | 10 |
| 2000s | 35.8% | 31.2% | 39.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 36.5% | 32.1% | 50.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 35.4% | 34.8% | 36.2% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Iceland
More poverty & inequality data for Iceland
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 4 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 1.54 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 2,430 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 -18.09 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 35.57 (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 1.4 % change on previous year (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Iceland?
- Tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Iceland was 35.6% 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 Iceland?
- The highest recorded value was 50.3% in 2016.
- What is the lowest tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality recorded in Iceland?
- The lowest recorded value was 27.5% in 1985.
- How does Iceland rank for tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality?
- Iceland ranks 20th out of 187 countries with data for 2023.
- Is tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality rising or falling in Iceland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Iceland 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 — 44 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.