Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Jamaica
Jamaica: Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality was 27.8% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Jamaica, 1980–2023
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 Jamaica stood at 27.8%. That is the highest value across all 39 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.7% on the previous year and up 17.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Jamaica peaked at 27.8% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 19.1%, in 1992.
That places Jamaica 50th out of 187 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 39 years of available data.
Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Jamaica, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 20.1% | — |
| 1981 | 23.1% | +15.0% |
| 1982 | 24.2% | +5.0% |
| 1983 | 21.6% | -11.0% |
| 1984 | 21.9% | +1.5% |
| 1990 | 23.6% | +7.7% |
| 1991 | 22.1% | -6.1% |
| 1992 | 19.1% | -13.6% |
| 1993 | 21.3% | +11.5% |
| 1994 | 21.1% | -1.1% |
| 1995 | 21.7% | +3.0% |
| 1996 | 20.1% | -7.5% |
| 1997 | 19.9% | -1.0% |
| 1998 | 20.9% | +4.7% |
| 1999 | 21.9% | +5.0% |
| 2000 | 22.5% | +2.7% |
| 2001 | 21.4% | -4.8% |
| 2002 | 21.9% | +2.1% |
| 2003 | 24.1% | +10.1% |
| 2004 | 23.8% | -1.3% |
| 2005 | 22.4% | -5.8% |
| 2006 | 23.1% | +3.3% |
| 2007 | 23.9% | +3.1% |
| 2008 | 24.1% | +1.1% |
| 2009 | 24.0% | -0.4% |
| 2010 | 24.0% | -0.1% |
| 2011 | 23.4% | -2.6% |
| 2012 | 23.5% | +0.5% |
| 2013 | 23.6% | +0.4% |
| 2014 | 23.3% | -1.0% |
| 2015 | 24.3% | +4.3% |
| 2016 | 25.1% | +3.2% |
| 2017 | 25.8% | +2.8% |
| 2018 | 26.3% | +1.7% |
| 2019 | 27.0% | +2.6% |
| 2020 | 26.0% | -3.6% |
| 2021 | 26.0% | +0.2% |
| 2022 | 27.3% | +4.9% |
| 2023 | 27.8% | +1.7% |
Jamaica compared with similar countries
- Jamaica's 27.8% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 21.9%, 1.3× the median. (54 countries reporting)
- Jamaica's 27.8% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 19.6%, 1.4× the median. (34 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 22.2% | 20.1% | 24.2% | 5 |
| 1990s | 21.2% | 19.1% | 23.6% | 10 |
| 2000s | 23.1% | 21.4% | 24.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 24.6% | 23.3% | 27.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 26.8% | 26.0% | 27.8% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Jamaica
- 47 Liechtenstein 28.1% compare
- 48 South Africa 28.1% compare
- 49 Nicaragua 27.8% compare
- 51 Eswatini 27.7% compare
- 52 Romania 27.5% compare
- 53 Seychelles 27.2% compare
More poverty & inequality data for Jamaica
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 2 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 1.36 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 1,140 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 -1.89 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 27.77 (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 1.7 % change on previous year (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Jamaica?
- Tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Jamaica was 27.8% 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 Jamaica?
- The highest recorded value was 27.8% in 2023.
- What is the lowest tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality recorded in Jamaica?
- The lowest recorded value was 19.1% in 1992.
- How does Jamaica rank for tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality?
- Jamaica ranks 50th out of 187 countries with data for 2023.
- Is tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality rising or falling in Jamaica?
- Over the last ten years it is up 17.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Jamaica 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 — 39 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.