Fiscal Policies World Revenue Longitudinal Database

World

WORLD REVENUE LONGITUDINAL DATABASE

Tracking Domestic Revenue Mobilization and Changes in Government Revenue Structures

November 20, 2024

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The IMF’s World Revenue Longitudinal Database (WoRLD) tracks government revenue trends since the early 1980s. 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, computed using the Government Finance Statistics Manual—the database enables cross-country comparisons and longitudinal analysis, making it an essential tool for shaping policies that advance countries’ development goals.

WoRLD tracks directly 9 key components of tax and non-tax revenues, which together contribute more than 80 percent of government revenue globally. The 2026 update expanded country coverage to Aruba and Liechtenstein, and time coverage to 2024. Key insights from the 2026 version of WoRLD include:

  • Government total revenue has been broadly stable, averaging about 30 percent of GDP since 2000.
  • Tax revenues have increased slightly, by about 1.8 percentage point of GDP since 2000, and stood at 17.5 percent of GDP in 2024.
  • Tax revenues are a major component of government revenues and have occupied between 55 and 60 percent of the total since the early 2000s. This also means that a significant share of government revenues is attributable to non-tax sources, such as grants, revenue from natural resources, social security contributions, and a myriad of other non-tax sources.
  • Grants, a major source of revenue for low-income developing countries, have declined by 50 percent since the early 2000s—from about 6 percent to 3 percent of GDP.

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.

The IMF’s World Revenue Longitudinal Database (WoRLD)

IMF & CGD Discussion

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