Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Uganda
Uganda: Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality was 12.5% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Uganda, 1980–2023
Source: UNU-WIDER Government Revenue Dataset (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Uganda recorded 12.5% for tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in 2023. That is the highest value across all 42 years on record.
The figure is up 6.1% on the previous year and up 44.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Uganda peaked at 12.5% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 0.7%, in 1981.
Uganda ranks 141st of 187 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 42 years of available data.
Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Uganda, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 1.6% | — |
| 1981 | 0.7% | -56.6% |
| 1982 | 4.0% | +463.7% |
| 1983 | 5.8% | +44.2% |
| 1984 | 5.1% | -12.1% |
| 1985 | 4.6% | -9.9% |
| 1986 | 3.8% | -17.6% |
| 1987 | 2.6% | -30.7% |
| 1988 | 3.1% | +17.0% |
| 1989 | 2.6% | -15.1% |
| 1990 | 3.6% | +39.3% |
| 1993 | 5.5% | +50.8% |
| 1994 | 6.3% | +15.7% |
| 1995 | 7.2% | +13.6% |
| 1996 | 7.9% | +9.8% |
| 1997 | 8.1% | +1.8% |
| 1998 | 7.9% | -2.1% |
| 1999 | 8.3% | +5.3% |
| 2000 | 7.8% | -5.6% |
| 2001 | 7.9% | +1.0% |
| 2002 | 8.1% | +2.0% |
| 2003 | 8.3% | +2.6% |
| 2004 | 8.5% | +2.4% |
| 2005 | 8.7% | +2.9% |
| 2006 | 8.8% | +0.7% |
| 2007 | 8.8% | +0.1% |
| 2008 | 8.3% | -5.5% |
| 2009 | 7.6% | -8.1% |
| 2010 | 7.9% | +3.6% |
| 2011 | 7.4% | -6.0% |
| 2012 | 8.1% | +8.9% |
| 2013 | 8.6% | +6.7% |
| 2014 | 8.9% | +3.4% |
| 2015 | 10.0% | +12.0% |
| 2016 | 10.7% | +6.8% |
| 2017 | 10.9% | +2.0% |
| 2018 | 11.1% | +1.7% |
| 2019 | 11.5% | +3.9% |
| 2020 | 11.3% | -1.5% |
| 2021 | 12.0% | +6.1% |
| 2022 | 11.7% | -2.4% |
| 2023 | 12.5% | +6.1% |
Uganda compared with similar countries
- Uganda's 12.5% is above the median for low income countries, which is 9.5%, 1.3× the median. (21 countries reporting)
- Uganda's 12.5% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 13.5%, 92% of the median. (45 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Uganda 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | +463.7% | 0.7% | 4.0% |
| 1981 | -56.6% | 1.6% | 0.7% |
| 1993 | +50.8% | 3.6% | 5.5% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 3.4% | 0.7% | 5.8% | 10 |
| 1990s | 6.9% | 3.6% | 8.3% | 8 |
| 2000s | 8.3% | 7.6% | 8.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 9.5% | 7.4% | 11.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 11.9% | 11.3% | 12.5% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Uganda
More poverty & inequality data for Uganda
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 3 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 4.28 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 1,920 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate -1.96 % change on previous year (2024)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 12.46 (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 6.1 % change on previous year (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Uganda?
- Tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Uganda was 12.5% 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 Uganda?
- The highest recorded value was 12.5% in 2023.
- What is the lowest tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality recorded in Uganda?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.7% in 1981.
- How does Uganda rank for tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality?
- Uganda ranks 141st out of 187 countries with data for 2023.
- Is tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality rising or falling in Uganda?
- Over the last ten years it is up 44.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Uganda 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 — 42 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.