The weighted tax-to-GDP ratio, i.e. the total amount of taxes and social security contributions, in the EU27 increased to 39.9% in 2006 from 39.3% in 2005. The EU27 tax ratio is nevertheless lower than in 1996 (40.3%) and the peak of 41.0% in 1999.

EU tax levels remain generally high in comparison with the rest of the world, with the EU27 tax ratio exceeding those of the USA and Japan by some 12 percentage points. However, the tax burden varies significantly between Member States, ranging in 2006 from less than 30% in Romania (28.6%), Slovakia (29.3%) and Lithuania (29.7%), to almost 50% in Denmark (49.1%) and Sweden (48.9%).

This information comes from the publication “Taxation trends in the European Union: Data for the EU Member States and Norway” issued by Eurostat.