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Economy · Africa ranking

Tax Revenue (% of GDP) by African country

37.3%Lesotho leads · 2024

Lesotho has the highest tax revenue as a share of GDP of any African country, at 37.3%, ahead of Namibia and South Africa.

Central government tax revenue as a share of GDP. 42 of 54 countries, ranked · World Bank — World Development Indicators, 2024.

#1 vs #4217×Lesotho vs Somalia
Median12.6%Burundi
Lowest2.2%Somalia

By region

regional average
Southern Africa23.8%
7 countries · led by Lesotho
North Africa15.2%
4 countries · led by Morocco
West Africa13.7%
12 countries · led by Senegal
East Africa13.4%
12 countries · led by Seychelles
Central Africa8.6%
7 countries · led by Cameroon

Full ranking

42 of 54 countries
#CountryTax Revenue (% of GDP)Period
1Lesotho
37.3%2024
2Namibia
33%2023
3South Africa
25.4%2023
4Eswatini
24.3%2021
5Botswana
22.5%2024
6Seychelles
22.1%2008
7Mozambique
21.9%2024
8Morocco
20.7%2023
9Mauritius
20.5%2024
10Tunisia
20.1%2012
11Senegal
19.5%2023
12Burkina Faso
18.6%2023
13Cabo Verde
18.4%2020
14Gambia
18.2%1990
15Zambia
16.8%2021
16Kenya
14.1%2023
17Togo
13.8%2023
18Rwanda
13.5%2023
19Malawi
13.5%2022
20Cote d'Ivoire
13%2023
21Tanzania
12.8%2024
22Burundi
12.6%2021
23Uganda
12.6%2024
24Egypt
12.5%2015
25Ghana
12.4%2023
26Mali
12%2020
27Niger
11.8%1980
28Cameroon
11.3%2021
29Madagascar
11.1%2024
30Benin
10.8%1979
31Democratic Republic of the Congo
10.7%2022
32Gabon
9.5%2021
33Guinea-Bissau
8.2%2024
34Central African Republic
8.2%2021
35Angola
7.7%2024
36Guinea
7.4%1992
37Sudan
7.4%2016
38Zimbabwe
7.2%2018
39Equatorial Guinea
6.6%2022
40Republic of the Congo
6.5%2021
41Ethiopia
3.4%2024
42Somalia
2.2%2024

Get this ranking via API

GET /v1/data

One call to /v1/data returns the latest Tax Revenue (% of GDP) figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.

curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=tax_revenue_pct_gdp&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"

Cite or republish this ranking

Data: Africa APIWorld Bank — World Development Indicators, 2024. Free to republish with a link to this page. Pull the live figures via the API above so your version never goes stale.

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<iframe src="https://africa-api.com/embed/tax-revenue" width="100%" height="560" loading="lazy" style="border:1px solid #e3e3e3;border-radius:10px;max-width:640px" title="Tax Revenue (% of GDP) by African country — Africa API"></iframe>
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Frequently asked questions

Which African country has the highest tax revenue as a share of GDP?

Lesotho has the highest tax revenue as a share of GDP in Africa at 37.3% (2024), followed by Namibia and South Africa.

Which African country has the lowest tax revenue as a share of GDP?

Somalia has the lowest tax revenue as a share of GDP of the 42 African countries with data, at 2.2% (2024).

How many African countries report Tax Revenue (% of GDP) data?

42 of 54 African countries have a recent Tax Revenue (% of GDP) figure in the Africa API. Each value links to the country's full series with source and history.

How do I get this ranking via API?

Call GET /v1/data?metric_key=tax_revenue_pct_gdp&latest=true with the country codes you need and a free Africa API key — the response returns the latest value per country as JSON.

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