Tax revenue as % of GDP

I obtained the following figures from Wikipedia.


Tax as % of GDP

Country	Tax %
Denmark	49.1%
France	44.2%
Germany	39.3%
UK	37.4%
New Zealand	36.0%
Canada	33.3%
Australia	30.6%
USA	28.3%
Japan	27.9%
China (PRC)	17.1%
Malaysia	15.5%
Philippines	14.4%
Thailand	13.0%
Singapore	13.0%
Hong Kong	12.8%
Indonesia	11.0%

It seems that the first world countries have a ratio above 25%. Even the USA, has a tax rate of 28.3%. Singapore has one of the lowest tax rates and competes with Hong Kong and Indonesia. The tax rate is lower than the Asean countries. Perhaps, the tax rate of Singapore and Hong Kong is distorted as a large part of the revenue comes from land sale, which is probably not counted here.

A higher tax rate means that more social services are provided, such as health care, welfare and financial security, as is the case in the first world countries.


Another survey by International Living showed that the countries with a higher quality of life score are those in Europe and other first world countries. It seems that this is correlated with higher tax rate.

I am in favor of higher tax rates to provide more social services, following the example of first world countires. It will also help to narrow the gap between high and lower income earners. Read my views here.

Tan Kin Lian