Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in East Timor
East Timor: Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality was 8.7% in 2016. ◆ Volatile
Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in East Timor, 2001–2016
Source: UNU-WIDER Government Revenue Dataset (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
In 2016, tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in East Timor stood at 8.7%.
That represents a change of up 16.0% on the previous year and down 83.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in East Timor peaked at 51.8% in 2005 and was at its lowest, 4.7%, in 2001.
That places East Timor 164th out of 187 countries with data for 2016, putting it in the bottom quarter.
Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in East Timor, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 4.7% | — |
| 2002 | 5.2% | +12.5% |
| 2003 | 10.8% | +106.7% |
| 2004 | 14.2% | +31.7% |
| 2005 | 51.8% | +263.4% |
| 2015 | 7.5% | -85.5% |
| 2016 | 8.7% | +16.0% |
East Timor compared with similar countries
- East Timor's 8.7% is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 14.9%, 58% of the median. (46 countries reporting)
- East Timor's 8.7% is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 18.1%, 48% of the median. (30 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 17.3% | 4.7% | 51.8% | 5 |
| 2010s | 8.1% | 7.5% | 8.7% | 2 |
Countries ranked near East Timor
- 161 Gambia 9.5% compare
- 162 Democratic Republic of Congo 9.3% compare
- 163 Guinea-Bissau 9.2% compare
- 165 Comoros 8.2% compare
- 166 Niger 8.1% compare
- 167 Saudi Arabia 8.0% compare
More poverty & inequality data for East Timor
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 0 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 2.71 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 2,129 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 9.55 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 8.71 (2016)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2016)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, annual growth rate 15.99 % change on previous year (2016)
Frequently asked questions
- What is tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in East Timor?
- Tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in East Timor was 8.7% in 2016, 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 East Timor?
- The highest recorded value was 51.8% in 2005.
- What is the lowest tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality recorded in East Timor?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.7% in 2001.
- How does East Timor rank for tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality?
- East Timor ranks 164th out of 187 countries with data for 2016.
- Is tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality rising or falling in East Timor?
- Over the last ten years it is down 83.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this East Timor 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 — 7 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.