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Check HMRC / ONS →
Historical trend
Trend summary
UK tax revenues were 37.1% of GDP in the financial year 2024–25, the highest share since the 1940s.
Trend
- The tax burden has risen from around 32% of GDP in 2010 to 37.1% in 2024–25, driven by rising income tax receipts and fiscal drag.
- Fiscal drag — the effect of income tax thresholds not rising with inflation — has pushed a growing proportion of income into higher rate brackets.
- At 37.1% of GDP, the UK tax burden is below France (46%) and Germany (40%) but above the US (27%) on comparable OECD definitions.
Context
- ONS and HMRC publish tax revenue statistics; the ratio to GDP is calculated using ONS GDP estimates.
- The OBR publishes a tax burden forecast alongside each Budget; the March 2025 figure is a provisional outturn.
Trend summary generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 on 25 April 2025. Contains no editorial judgement — describes direction, magnitude, and official projections only.
OECD comparison
🇺🇸 United States
28 % GDP
🇯🇵 Japan
31 % GDP
🇨🇦 Canada
35 % GDP
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
37 % GDP
🇩🇪 Germany
39 % GDP
🇮🇹 Italy
43 % GDP
🇫🇷 France
46 % GDP
About this indicator
- Source
- HMRC / ONS
- Update frequency
- Monthly
- Last updated
- 21 January 2025 Data may be out of date
- Licence
- OGL v3
- Rising trend is…
- Negative
Statistics
- Latest
- 37.3 % GDP
- Period high
- 37.3
- Period low
- 36.1
- Period average
- 36.7