Revenue Statistics in Asia and the Pacific 2024 is a joint publication by the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration and the OECD Development Centre with the co-operation of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Pacific Islands Tax Administrators Association (PITAA), and the Pacific Community (SPC), and with financial support from the governments of Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. It presents detailed, internationally comparable data on tax revenues for 36 Asian and Pacific economies: Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, the People’s Republic of China, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Georgia, Hong Kong (China)1, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Korea, Kyrgyzstan2, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), Malaysia, the Maldives, the Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Nauru, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tokelau, Vanuatu and Viet Nam. It also provides information on non-tax revenues for Bhutan, Cambodia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Hong Kong (China), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, the Maldives, the Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Nauru, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tokelau, Vanuatu and Viet Nam. Four of these economies are OECD members (Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand). The approach used in Revenue Statistics in Asia and the Pacific is based on the well-established methodology of the OECD Interpretative Guide which has become an essential reference source for OECD member countries. Comparisons are also made with average revenue indicators for countries in the OECD and in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as average revenue indicators for 33 countries included in the 2023 edition of Revenue Statistics in Africa.
In this publication, the term “taxes” is confined to compulsory, unrequited payments to general government. As outlined in the OECD Interpretative Guide, taxes are “unrequited” in the sense that benefits provided by government to taxpayers are not normally in proportion to their payments. The OECD methodology classifies a tax according to its base: income, profits and capital gains (classified under heading 1000), payroll (heading 3000), property (heading 4000), goods and services (heading 5000) and other taxes (heading 6000). Compulsory social security contributions paid to general government are treated as taxes and are classified under heading 2000. Greater detail on the tax concept, the classification of taxes and the accrual basis of reporting is set out in Annex A of this publication.
The term “non-tax revenues” includes all general government revenues that do not meet the OECD definition of tax revenues. Non-tax revenues include grants (e.g. foreign aid), returns on government market investments, rents on the extraction of resources from public lands, sales of government-produced goods and services, and the collection of fines and forfeits. Further detail on the definition of these revenues is available in Annex B.
Chapter 1 of this publication provides an overview of the main tax revenue trends across 36 economies in the region and non-tax revenue trends in 22 economies from 2010 to 2022. A Special Feature on tax revenue buoyancy among developing countries in Asia is found in Chapter 2, while Chapter 3 contains comparative tables on the level and structure of taxation in the 36 economies since 1990. Chapter 4 provides detailed information on tax revenues on a country-by-country basis. Chapter 5 includes information on the level and structure of non-tax revenues in selected economies.