Bhutan: Tax revenue (current LCU)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2020, Bhutan's tax revenue (current LCU) fell 19.9% on 2019 (from 27.93 billion to 22.37 billion).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1990 to 2019), the average change was +18.5% and a typical year strayed about 17.9% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 68.5% in 2010 and the biggest yearly fall was 19.9% in 2020. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2011 to 2020 the straight-line trend is upward, about 1.64 billion a year. A straight line explains 80% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about 32.2 billion for 2023. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2018 to 2020 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 4.17 billion, against 6.06 billion for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

How it compares

In 2020, Bhutan had the 5th highest value of the 10 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Bhutan in the 2020 ranking

• Jamaica — 2nd of 10: 505.69 billion
• Honduras — 3rd of 10: 86.49 billion
• Cabo Verde — 4th of 10: 32.42 billion
• Bahrain — 6th of 10: 380.42 million
• St. Kitts and Nevis — 7th of 10: 359 million
• Palau — 8th of 10: 46.83 million

What this measures

Taxes are compulsory, unrequited payments, in cash or in kind, made by institutional units to government units. This indicator is expressed in current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. This series is expressed in local currency units.

Limitations: For most countries central government finance data have been consolidated into one account, but for others only budgetary central government accounts are available. Countries reporting budgetary data are noted in the country metadata. Because budgetary accounts may not include all central government units (such as social security funds), they usually provide an incomplete picture. In federal states the central government accounts provide an incomplete view of total public finance. Data on government revenue and expense are collected by the IMF through questionnaires to member countries and by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

All 38 values

Tax revenue (current LCU) in nearby economies

• Bangladesh — 2.7 trillion (2021)
• India — 18.11 trillion (2022)
• Maldives — 15.71 billion (2021)
• Nepal — 748.42 billion (2023)
• Sri Lanka — 2.72 trillion (2023)

More public sector data for Bhutan

• Net incurrence of liabilities, total (current LCU) — 11.71 billion (2020)
• Net incurrence of liabilities, total (% of GDP) — 6.43% (2020)
• Grants and other revenue (current LCU) — 32.2 billion (2020)
• Taxes on goods and services (current LCU) — 9.84 billion (2020)
• Taxes on goods and services (% of industry and services value added) — 6.61% (2020)
• Customs and other import duties (current LCU) — 468 million (2020)
• Customs and other import duties (% of tax revenue) — 2.09% (2020)
• Taxes on international trade (current LCU) — 1.58 billion (2020)
• Tax revenue (% of GDP) — 12.28% (2020)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Bhutan's tax revenue (current LCU)?

22.37 billion in 2020, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1982?

It is up 29,143% from 76.5 million in 1982 (16.12% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 27.93 billion in 2019 and the lowest 76.5 million in 1982.

How does Bhutan rank?

5th highest of 10 economies with data for 2020.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator GC.TAX.TOTL.CN, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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