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GRD – Government Revenue Dataset
Presents a complete picture of government revenue and tax trends over time
The most recent version of the Government Revenue Dataset - updated in June 2020 - is open and free to use.
The GRD aims to present a complete picture of government revenue and tax trends over time and allows for analysis at the country, regional or cross-country level. Where possible, figures are expressed both inclusive and exclusive of natural resource revenues, which helps to overcome a major obstacle to cross-country comparisons in existing data sources.
Visualization tool
The GRD Explorer tool allows users to access the GRD, compare countries, regions, and indicators and visualize the data. Alternatively, the dataset is available for download in Stata and Excel formats below. Currently, the GRD Explorer is optimized for desktop.
Full dataset and resources
| Excel | Stata | User guide |
|---|---|---|
 ICTDWIDERGRD_2020.xlsx |
GRD-Merged-dta-2020.zip |
 ICTD_GRD_User_Guide.pdf |
Users wishing to access and download the underlying data for Central or General Government, can find these under Resources.
Please contact us for any questions on the dataset. We welcome comments from users of the dataset, particularly with reference to recent updates. A user guide and working paper describing the construction of the GRD can be found under Resources.
Please cite this dataset version as 'UNU-WIDER Government Revenue Dataset’, 2020, https://www.wider.unu.edu/project/government-revenue-dataset
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Blog
How global tax dodging costs lives: New research shows a direct link to increased death ratesTax abuse is an expensive business. According to a recent report by the Tax Justice Network, avoiding or evading tax deprives governments across the world of around US$427 billion (£302 billion) every year...
Tax evasion Tax avoidance Human rightsBlog
Data for better tax policy analysis: Introducing the latest version of the Government Revenue Dataset
Thanks to the updated version of the Government Revenue Dataset ( GRD ) we are now able to gain a clear picture of tax and other revenue trends in over 190 countries over the past four decades, up until 2018...
Government revenue Taxation DataAbout
Domestic Revenue Mobilization programmeThe aim of UNU-WIDER’s Domestic Revenue Mobilization (DRM) programme is to help improve developing countries’ tax systems and to strengthen their domestic capacities for revenue collection. Efficient domestic resource mobilization will...
Domestic revenue mobilizationNews
UNU-WIDER and Norad agree on new USD 10 million research and capacity-building programme on domestic revenue mobilization
Domestic revenue mobilization Blog
Revenue data like you’ve never seen it before: Introducing the GRD Explorer Let’s face it, data is important. It sits at the core of almost everything that we in the development economics research community do. However, the way in which we use, share, understand, interpret and present data is more important still...
Government revenue Taxation Data
Working Paper
Toward closer cohesion of international tax statistics: The ICTD/UNU-WIDER GRD 2017The Government Revenue Dataset (GRD) was launched in September 2014 and, in the few years since, has gone on to be recognized as the go-to source for researchers and policymakers seeking cross-country data on government revenues and taxes...
Tax Fiscal policy DataBlog
Domestic revenue mobilization and the role of data
Government revenues are central to funding public expenditures in all countries...
Tax DevelopmentBlog
Updated Government Revenue Dataset provides new insights into developing country tax collection trends The increasing focus on domestic resource mobilization in developing countries means that, for researchers and policy makers, access to accurate and timely data is more important than ever...
Tax DevelopmentPresentation
UNU-WIDER at the International Economics Association World Congress 2017This year the International Economic Association held its World Conference in Mexico City. The five day event, held from 19th to 23rd of June, featured a huge variety of sessions on many of the key economic issues of the day, as well as keynotes by...
Blog
Tax, development and the SDGs: How we are supporting the data revolution At the core of efforts to meet the Sustainable Development Goals lies a commitment to enhance domestic revenue mobilization. Strengthening capacity to collect tax and other revenue is key for developing countries as they move forward...
Tax Development DataWorking Paper
Party system institutionalization and reliance on personal income tax: Exploring the relationship using new dataThis paper explores the effect of party system institutionalization on the reliance of tax systems on the personal income tax...
Income tax Fiscal capacity BureaucracyWorking Paper
Natural resources' impact on government revenuesMotivated by the fact that the taxation of natural resources is both crucial and particularly challenging for developing countries, this paper draws on a unique dataset to produce empirical evidence on two issues pertaining to the fiscal impact of oi...
Taxation Oil Natural resourcesWorking Paper
Does the political resource curse affect public finance?: The vulnerability of tax revenue in resource-rich countriesThis paper explores the extent to which government revenue is affected by external shocks, and whether these effects are different for resource-rich as compared with non-resource-rich countries...
Taxes Natural resources Terms-of-trade shocksWorking Paper
Tax revenues in transition countries: Structural changes and their policy implicationsChanges in the tax structure and category of taxes clearly matter when it comes to initiating tax policies. This paper employs data from a sample of 33 transitional countries over the period 1991–2014...
Tax revenue Economic growth Transitional economiesWorking Paper
Fiscal decentralization and the shadow economyIn this paper we use the new Government Revenue Dataset to analyse fiscal decentralization...
Taxation Decentralization Fiscal decentralization