India: Tax revenue (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 1.05 percentage points in 2006 and the biggest yearly fall was 1.27 percentage points in 1993. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

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

How it compares

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

Closest to India in the 2022 ranking

• Ecuador — 4th of 8: 13.09%
• Lao PDR — 5th of 8: 12.11%
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 6th of 8: 10.66%
• Equatorial Guinea — 8th of 8: 6.6%

What this measures

Taxes are compulsory, unrequited payments, in cash or in kind, made by institutional units to government units. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.

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).

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 46 values

Tax revenue (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Bangladesh — 7.64% (2021)
• Bhutan — 12.28% (2020)
• Maldives — 19.45% (2021)
• Nepal — 13.94% (2023)
• Sri Lanka — 9.88% (2023)

More public sector data for India

• Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 2.86 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (current USD) — 92.06 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (current LCU) — 8.02 trillion (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 2.3% (2025)
• Net acquisition of financial assets (current LCU) — 3.89 trillion (2022)
• Net acquisition of financial assets (% of GDP) — 1.49% (2022)
• Net incurrence of liabilities, total (current LCU) — 17.63 trillion (2022)
• Net incurrence of liabilities, total (% of GDP) — 6.75% (2022)
• Net investment in nonfinancial assets (current LCU) — 2.39 trillion (2022)
• Net investment in nonfinancial assets (% of GDP)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is India's tax revenue (% of GDP)?

6.93% in 2022, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1974?

It is down 1.25 percentage points from 8.18% in 1974. The highest value was 12.11% in 2007 and the lowest 6.93% in 2022.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator GC.TAX.TOTL.GD.ZS, 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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