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The most recent version of the Government Revenue Dataset - released in November 2017 - is open and free to use. The primary data file (core dataset) is available for download in two formats and can be downloaded below.
The GRD contains data on a range of policy-relevant indicators, allowing for analysis of revenue and tax trends over time at the regional or country level. Where possible, figures are also expressed both inclusive and exclusive of natural resource revenues, which helps to overcome a major obstacle to cross-country comparisons in existing data sources.
| Excel | Stata | User guide |
|---|---|---|
 ICTDWIDER-GRD-2017.xlsx |
 Merged-GRD-2017.zip |
 User Guide.pdf |
Users wishing to access and download the underlying data for Central or General Government, can find these under Additional data files.
Please contact the database manager 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 ‘Documentation’.
Please cite this dataset version as ICTD/UNU-WIDER, ‘Government Revenue Dataset’, November 2017, https://www.wider.unu.edu/project/government-revenue-dataset'
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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 Bureaucracy
Kyle McNabb is a Research Fellow at UNU-WIDER. He attained his PhD from the Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh in 2016, and has previously worked on research projects at the World Bank and International Centre for Tax and Development. His work is...
Working 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 decentralizationWorking Paper
Are taxes good for your health?The global framework for financing development, adopted in 2015, places great emphasis on mobilizing domestic resources to finance the Sustainable Development Goals, which include universal healthcare. In a recent paper Reeves et al...
Taxation Health Resource revenuesWorking Paper
Tax revenue mobilization in conflict-affected developing countriesHow does conflict affect tax revenue mobilization? This paper uses a newly updated dataset to explore longitudinal trends of tax revenue mobilization prior to, during, and after conflict periods in a selection of conflict-affected states since 1980...
Tax ConflictWorking Paper
On the mobilization of domestic resources in oil countries: The role of historical factorsThis paper investigates the sources of variability in the mobilization of domestic tax revenue in oil-producing countries...
Tax Natural resources History (Economics)Working Paper
Tax structures and economic growth: New evidence from the Government Revenue DatasetRecent work on the relationship between tax structure and economic growth has offered little reliable evidence for developing countries...
Economic growth Fiscal policy DevelopmentWorking Paper
Taxation, infrastructure, and firm performance in developing countriesThis paper investigates the relationship between taxation and firm performance in developing countries...
Business enterprises Economic growth Infrastructure (Economics)Context
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