S. Korea's 2019 tax-GDP ratio lower than major economies

SEOUL, April 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's tax burden ratio remained unchanged in 2019 from a year earlier and was lower than that for other major economies, a report showed Monday.

The country's tax-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio came to 20.1 percent in 2019, unchanged from the prior year, according to the report from the Korea Institute of Public Finance.

South Korea's figure was 4.8 percentage points lower than the average for the members of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Yet, South Korea's ratio had been on the rise, while the OECD average had been plateauing in recent years.

South Korea's tax-GDP ratio came to 17.3 percent in 2014 before rising to 20.1 percent in 2018. The OECD average came to 24.9 percent in 2018 and 2019 after rising to 25 percent in 2016 from 24.4 percent in 2014.

Although South Korea's tax-GDP ratio was lower than that for other major economies, its ratio of property taxes to GDP came to 3.3 percent in 2019, much higher than the OECD average of 1.9 percent, according to the report.

Meanwhile, South Korea's national burden ratio, or tax revenue and social security contributions divided by its GDP, reached 27.7 percent in 2019, lower than the OECD average of 33.8 percent.

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