WORLD REVENUE LONGITUDINAL DATABASE

Tracking Domestic Revenue Mobilization and Changes in Government Revenue Structures

November 20, 2024

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IMF & CGD live Event

From 9 AM to 10:30 AM ET

Panelists:

  • Mario Mansour, Division Chief, Fiscal Affairs Department
  • Imdad Ullah Bosal, Finance Secretary, Government of Pakistan
  • Sanjeev Gupta, Senior Fellow Emeritus, Center for Global Development
  • Frankie Mbuyamba, Manager of ATAF Regionalisation, African Tax Administration Forum
  • Nara Monkam, Associate Professor, Public Economics, University of Pretoria

Moderator:

Mark Plant, Chief Operating Officer, CEO of CGD Europe, and Senior Policy Fellow, Center for Global Development

The IMF’s World Revenue Longitudinal Database (WoRLD) tracks government revenue trends in 193 countries since the early 1990s. This invaluable resource offers policymakers, researchers, and the public crucial insights into the evolution of both the level and composition of revenues. With its consistent and reliable source—IMF surveillance data—the database enables cross-country comparisons and longitudinal analysis, making it an essential tool for shaping policies that advance the Sustainable Development Goals, climate action, and economic equity.

WoRLD tracks directly 9 key components of tax and non-tax revenues, which together contribute about 82 percent of government revenue globally. Some key insights include:

  • Globally, average government revenue as a share of GDP was about 29.6 percent in 2021, slightly above the mid-1990s.
  • Average tax revenue as a share of GDP stood at 17.1 percent in 2021, about 1 point higher than the mid-1990s.
  • In 2021, non-tax revenue accounted for 36 percent of government revenue (39 percent in 1995), with 44 percent of this attributed to revenue from hydrocarbons and mining activities (55 percent in 1995).
  • The share of taxes on income/profits and consumption/production grew steadily from approximately 72 percent of total tax revenue in 1995, to 83 percent in 2021.

WoRLD will be updated annually to provide insight into recent developments affecting governments’ fiscal position.

For more information, questions, or feedback, please e-mail WoRLD@imf.org.