Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality was 9.8% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Sri Lanka, 1990–2023
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 Sri Lanka is 9.8%, measured in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 32.5% on the previous year and down 4.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Sri Lanka peaked at 15.6% in 1990 and was at its lowest, 7.4%, in 2022.
That places Sri Lanka 160th out of 187 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 34 years of available data.
Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 15.6% | — |
| 1991 | 15.0% | -3.8% |
| 1992 | 14.8% | -1.9% |
| 1993 | 14.4% | -2.6% |
| 1994 | 14.1% | -1.7% |
| 1995 | 14.6% | +3.4% |
| 1996 | 14.0% | -4.3% |
| 1997 | 13.2% | -5.3% |
| 1998 | 12.1% | -9.0% |
| 1999 | 12.5% | +3.9% |
| 2000 | 12.1% | -3.5% |
| 2001 | 12.1% | +0.2% |
| 2002 | 11.6% | -4.2% |
| 2003 | 10.9% | -6.1% |
| 2004 | 11.5% | +5.9% |
| 2005 | 11.8% | +2.2% |
| 2006 | 12.5% | +6.2% |
| 2007 | 12.2% | -2.2% |
| 2008 | 11.4% | -7.2% |
| 2009 | 11.0% | -3.0% |
| 2010 | 11.1% | +0.8% |
| 2011 | 11.0% | -0.8% |
| 2012 | 10.2% | -7.0% |
| 2013 | 10.3% | +0.3% |
| 2014 | 9.9% | -3.8% |
| 2015 | 11.9% | +19.9% |
| 2016 | 11.6% | -2.4% |
| 2017 | 11.8% | +1.8% |
| 2018 | 11.3% | -3.8% |
| 2019 | 11.1% | -2.0% |
| 2020 | 8.0% | -28.0% |
| 2021 | 7.6% | -5.2% |
| 2022 | 7.4% | -1.8% |
| 2023 | 9.8% | +32.5% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 9.8% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 21.9%, 45% of the median. (54 countries reporting)
- Sri Lanka's 9.8% is below the median for South Asia, which is 14.8%, 66% of the median. (6 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Sri Lanka 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | +32.5% | 7.4% | 9.8% |
| 2020 | -28.0% | 11.1% | 8.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 14.0% | 12.1% | 15.6% | 10 |
| 2000s | 11.7% | 10.9% | 12.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 11.0% | 9.9% | 11.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 8.2% | 7.4% | 9.8% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
- 157 Madagascar 10.4% compare
- 158 Guyana 10.3% compare
- 159 Indonesia 10.3% compare
- 161 Gambia 9.5% compare
- 162 Democratic Republic of Congo 9.3% compare
- 163 Guinea-Bissau 9.2% compare
More poverty & inequality data for Sri Lanka
- 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 1.97 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 3,804 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 25.42 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 9.85 (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 32.5 % change on previous year (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Sri Lanka?
- Tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Sri Lanka was 9.8% 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 Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 15.6% in 1990.
- What is the lowest tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.4% in 2022.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality?
- Sri Lanka ranks 160th out of 187 countries with data for 2023.
- Is tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Sri Lanka 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 — 34 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.