ATHENS: The European Union statistical office reported that the ratio of tax revenue and social contributions to GDP was 41.5% in the Eurozone and 40% in the EU. The ratio of 2014 tax revenue to GDP was highest in Denmark (50.8%), Belgium and France (both at 47.9%), while the lowest shares were recorded in Romania (27.7% of GDP), Bulgaria (27.8%), Lithuania (28.0%) and Switzerland (27.1%).
Between 2013 and 2014, decreases in the tax-to-GDP ratio were observed in eight member-states (Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden and the United Kingdom) as well as Norway and Switzerland. The largest decreases in the tax-to-GDP ratio were observed in Norway (-1.0 percentage points), the Czech Republic (-0.7 pp), the United Kingdom (-0.5 pp), Belgium and Slovenia (both -0.3 pp). For Luxembourg and Switzerland, the observed decreases were very slight (below -0.1 pp). For Portugal, a decrease of -0.2 pp between 2013 to 2014 followed a 2.7 pp increase between 2012 and 2013.
Increases in the tax-to-GDP ratios were observed in twenty member-states as well as Iceland and Serbia. The highest increases of GDP from 2013 to 2014 were recorded by Iceland (2.9 pp), Denmark (from 48.1% to 50.8% of GDP, or approximately 2.75 pp of GDP), Cyprus (2.6 pp), Malta (1.4 pp) and Serbia (1.0 pp). While Cyprus and Malta reported a comparatively low tax-to-GDP ratio, Denmark increased a relatively high tax-to-GDP ratio.
