Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Sweden
Sweden: Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality was 41.4% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Sweden, 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 Sweden stood at 41.4%. That is the lowest value across all 44 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 2.7% on the previous year and down 3.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Sweden peaked at 50.0% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 41.4%, in 2023.
Sweden ranks 8th of 187 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 44 years of available data.
Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Sweden, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 43.9% | — |
| 1981 | 45.2% | +2.9% |
| 1982 | 44.2% | -2.2% |
| 1983 | 44.8% | +1.4% |
| 1984 | 44.3% | -1.1% |
| 1985 | 44.7% | +0.9% |
| 1986 | 46.9% | +4.8% |
| 1987 | 49.4% | +5.3% |
| 1988 | 48.7% | -1.4% |
| 1989 | 49.2% | +1.1% |
| 1990 | 49.4% | +0.4% |
| 1991 | 47.5% | -3.9% |
| 1992 | 44.8% | -5.6% |
| 1993 | 43.8% | -2.3% |
| 1994 | 44.1% | +0.7% |
| 1995 | 45.1% | +2.3% |
| 1996 | 46.7% | +3.6% |
| 1997 | 47.6% | +1.9% |
| 1998 | 47.7% | +0.1% |
| 1999 | 48.2% | +1.0% |
| 2000 | 50.0% | +3.8% |
| 2001 | 47.1% | -5.8% |
| 2002 | 45.0% | -4.4% |
| 2003 | 45.6% | +1.2% |
| 2004 | 46.0% | +1.0% |
| 2005 | 47.4% | +2.9% |
| 2006 | 46.0% | -3.0% |
| 2007 | 45.0% | -2.1% |
| 2008 | 44.2% | -1.7% |
| 2009 | 43.9% | -0.7% |
| 2010 | 43.1% | -1.8% |
| 2011 | 42.2% | -2.1% |
| 2012 | 42.3% | +0.3% |
| 2013 | 42.7% | +0.9% |
| 2014 | 42.5% | -0.5% |
| 2015 | 42.9% | +1.0% |
| 2016 | 44.2% | +3.0% |
| 2017 | 44.5% | +0.6% |
| 2018 | 44.1% | -0.9% |
| 2019 | 43.0% | -2.6% |
| 2020 | 42.6% | -0.9% |
| 2021 | 42.8% | +0.4% |
| 2022 | 42.5% | -0.6% |
| 2023 | 41.4% | -2.7% |
Sweden compared with similar countries
- Sweden's 41.4% is above the median for high income countries, which is 29.8%, 1.4× the median. (65 countries reporting)
- Sweden's 41.4% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 33.9%, 1.2× the median. (50 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 46.1% | 43.9% | 49.4% | 10 |
| 1990s | 46.5% | 43.8% | 49.4% | 10 |
| 2000s | 46.0% | 43.9% | 50.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 43.2% | 42.2% | 44.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 42.3% | 41.4% | 42.8% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Sweden
More poverty & inequality data for Sweden
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 8 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 1.43 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 4,456 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 -27.03 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 41.37 (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 -2.69 % change on previous year (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Sweden?
- Tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Sweden was 41.4% 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 Sweden?
- The highest recorded value was 50.0% in 2000.
- What is the lowest tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality recorded in Sweden?
- The lowest recorded value was 41.4% in 2023.
- How does Sweden rank for tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality?
- Sweden ranks 8th out of 187 countries with data for 2023.
- Is tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality rising or falling in Sweden?
- Over the last ten years it is down 3.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Sweden 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.