Saudi Arabia: Taxes on income, profits and capital gains (% of revenue)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Saudi Arabia's taxes on income, profits and capital gains (% of revenue) fell 0.68 percentage points on 2023 (from 3.19% to 2.51%).

Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2011 to 2023), the average change was +0.17 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.56 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.5 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 1.26 percentage points in 2023 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.79 percentage points in 2017. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2015 to 2024 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 2% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

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

How it compares

In 2024, Saudi Arabia had the 89th highest value of the 89 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 Saudi Arabia in the 2024 ranking

• Tajikistan — 86th of 89: 7.74%
• Russian Federation — 87th of 89: 4.62%
• Belarus — 88th of 89: 3.05%

What this measures

Taxes on income, profits, and capital gains are taxes payable on the actual or presumed incomes, profits and capital gains. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of revenue which includes all transactions that add to the amount of economic value of a unit or sector.

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 median.

All 15 values

Taxes on income, profits and capital gains (% of revenue) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — 4.53% (2017)
• Bahrain — 0.32% (2020)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 24.11% (2015)
• Israel — 35.07% (2024)
• Jordan — 19.28% (2023)
• Lebanon — 7.84% (2024)
• Malta — 41.73% (2024)
• Morocco — 34.73% (2024)

More public sector data for Saudi Arabia

• Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 3.04 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (current USD) — 83.18 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (current LCU) — 311.93 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 6.48% (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of general government expenditure) — 23.53% (2025)
• Armed forces personnel, total — 282,000 (2020)
• Armed forces personnel (% of total labor force) — 1.92% (2020)
• Statistical performance indicators (SPI): Pillar 1 data use score (scale 0-100) — 80 (2024)
• Statistical performance indicators (SPI): Pillar 3 data products score (scale 0-100)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Saudi Arabia's taxes on income, profits and capital gains (% of revenue)?

2.51% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2010?

It is up 1.55 percentage points from 0.96% in 2010. The highest value was 3.19% in 2023 and the lowest 0.85% in 2011.

How does Saudi Arabia rank?

89th highest of 89 economies with data for 2024.

Is the latest change in taxes on income, profits and capital gains (% of revenue) unusual for Saudi Arabia?

In 2024, Saudi Arabia's taxes on income, profits and capital gains (% of revenue) fell 0.68 percentage points on 2023 (from 3.19% to 2.51%). Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2011 to 2023), the average change was +0.17 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.56 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.5 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator GC.TAX.YPKG.RV.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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