Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe: Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality was 14.9% in 2021. ▼ Falling
Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Zimbabwe, 1990–2021
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 Zimbabwe is 14.9%, measured in 2021.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 16.3% on the previous year and down 4.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Zimbabwe peaked at 27.2% in 1997 and was at its lowest, 10.6%, in 2019.
That places Zimbabwe 127th out of 187 countries with data for 2021, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 14 years of available data.
Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Zimbabwe, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 22.4% | — |
| 1991 | 20.6% | -7.8% |
| 1992 | 22.7% | +10.2% |
| 1993 | 23.7% | +4.1% |
| 1994 | 20.4% | -13.8% |
| 1995 | 23.9% | +17.3% |
| 1996 | 23.3% | -2.6% |
| 1997 | 27.2% | +16.7% |
| 2016 | 15.6% | -42.8% |
| 2017 | 13.2% | -15.0% |
| 2018 | 11.8% | -11.0% |
| 2019 | 10.6% | -9.6% |
| 2020 | 12.8% | +20.3% |
| 2021 | 14.9% | +16.3% |
Zimbabwe compared with similar countries
- Zimbabwe's 14.9% is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 14.9%, 100% of the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Zimbabwe's 14.9% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 13.5%, 1.1× the median. (45 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 23.0% | 20.4% | 27.2% | 8 |
| 2010s | 12.8% | 10.6% | 15.6% | 4 |
| 2020s | 13.8% | 12.8% | 14.9% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Zimbabwe
More poverty & inequality data for Zimbabwe
- 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 3.72 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 743.9 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 -22.26 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 14.89 (2021)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2021)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, annual growth rate 16.3 % change on previous year (2021)
Frequently asked questions
- What is tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Zimbabwe?
- Tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Zimbabwe was 14.9% in 2021, 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 Zimbabwe?
- The highest recorded value was 27.2% in 1997.
- What is the lowest tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality recorded in Zimbabwe?
- The lowest recorded value was 10.6% in 2019.
- How does Zimbabwe rank for tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality?
- Zimbabwe ranks 127th out of 187 countries with data for 2021.
- Is tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality rising or falling in Zimbabwe?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Zimbabwe 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 — 14 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.