World Revenue Longitudinal Database

Source details

The IMF’s World Revenue Longitudinal Database (WoRLD) tracks government revenue trends in 193 countries since the early 1990s.
The Database presentation also states that WoRLD tracks government revenue trends since the early 1980s.
WoRLD uses IMF surveillance data, computed using the Government Finance Statistics Manual, to enable cross-country comparisons and longitudinal analysis.
The database offers insights into both the level and composition of revenues to inform 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 more than 80 percent of government revenue globally.
The 2026 update:
- Expanded country coverage to Aruba and Liechtenstein.
- Expanded time coverage to 2024.
WoRLD will be updated annually to provide insight into recent developments affecting governments’ fiscal position.
Contact: WoRLD@imf.org

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 have occupied between 55 and 60 percent of the total since the early 2000s.
A significant share of government revenues is attributable to non-tax sources, such as grants, revenue from natural resources, social security contributions, and 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.