Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Tonga
Tonga: Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality was 22.2% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Tonga, 1981–2023
Source: UNU-WIDER Government Revenue Dataset (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Tonga recorded 22.2% for tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in 2023.
That represents a change of down 4.1% on the previous year and up 15.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Tonga peaked at 24.2% in 2018 and was at its lowest, 12.9%, in 1992.
Tonga ranks 75th of 187 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 43 years of available data.
Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Tonga, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 13.2% | — |
| 1982 | 13.6% | +3.4% |
| 1983 | 14.0% | +2.3% |
| 1984 | 13.3% | -4.4% |
| 1985 | 14.5% | +8.7% |
| 1986 | 14.4% | -0.5% |
| 1987 | 14.2% | -1.6% |
| 1988 | 15.4% | +8.4% |
| 1989 | 14.5% | -5.7% |
| 1990 | 14.3% | -1.4% |
| 1991 | 15.1% | +5.5% |
| 1992 | 12.9% | -14.8% |
| 1993 | 14.1% | +9.6% |
| 1994 | 14.8% | +4.8% |
| 1995 | 15.1% | +1.8% |
| 1996 | 15.7% | +4.5% |
| 1997 | 16.5% | +5.2% |
| 1998 | 15.3% | -7.2% |
| 1999 | 15.0% | -2.6% |
| 2000 | 15.7% | +4.7% |
| 2001 | 15.4% | -1.5% |
| 2002 | 18.7% | +21.4% |
| 2003 | 18.2% | -2.9% |
| 2004 | 18.2% | +0.4% |
| 2005 | 19.4% | +6.4% |
| 2006 | 20.8% | +7.3% |
| 2007 | 21.1% | +1.3% |
| 2008 | 21.1% | -0.1% |
| 2009 | 19.8% | -6.0% |
| 2010 | 16.4% | -17.1% |
| 2011 | 17.5% | +6.8% |
| 2012 | 17.5% | +0.1% |
| 2013 | 19.2% | +9.6% |
| 2014 | 19.4% | +1.1% |
| 2015 | 20.8% | +7.2% |
| 2016 | 21.4% | +2.8% |
| 2017 | 21.8% | +1.8% |
| 2018 | 24.2% | +11.0% |
| 2019 | 24.0% | -0.9% |
| 2020 | 23.5% | -2.3% |
| 2021 | 23.5% | +0.2% |
| 2022 | 23.1% | -1.5% |
| 2023 | 22.2% | -4.1% |
Tonga compared with similar countries
- Tonga's 22.2% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 21.9%, 1.0× the median. (54 countries reporting)
- Tonga's 22.2% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 18.1%, 1.2× the median. (30 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 14.1% | 13.2% | 15.4% | 9 |
| 1990s | 14.9% | 12.9% | 16.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 18.8% | 15.4% | 21.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 20.2% | 16.4% | 24.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 23.1% | 22.2% | 23.5% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Tonga
More poverty & inequality data for Tonga
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 1 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 3.13 live births per woman (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 22.19 (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 -4.08 % change on previous year (2023)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via -50 % change on previous year (2025)
- Gender Inequality Index 0.444 (2023)
- Lifespan inequality: Gini coefficient in women 0.1077 (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Tonga?
- Tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Tonga was 22.2% 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 Tonga?
- The highest recorded value was 24.2% in 2018.
- What is the lowest tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality recorded in Tonga?
- The lowest recorded value was 12.9% in 1992.
- How does Tonga rank for tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality?
- Tonga ranks 75th out of 187 countries with data for 2023.
- Is tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality rising or falling in Tonga?
- Over the last ten years it is up 15.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Tonga 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.
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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.