B2 ESL lesson based on a Visual Capitalist ranking of OECD countries by tax revenue as a percentage of GDP.
B2EconomyData & Society
Before you read
This lesson looks at how much money governments collect in taxes compared with the size of their economies. The article compares countries in the OECD and asks why some countries collect far more tax revenue than others.
Warm-up questions
1. What kinds of public services are paid for by taxes?
2. Do you think high taxes are always a bad thing?
3. Why might two rich countries collect very different amounts of tax?
Click the graphic to open the original Visual Capitalist article.
Reading Comprehension
Read the adapted B2 text. Click “Reveal answer” to see the answer in green and highlight the exact evidence in the reading.
Tax revenue tells us how much money a government collects through taxes. When it is measured as a share of GDP, it shows how much of a country’s economy ends up in government coffers.
The Visual Capitalist ranking compares 38 OECD countries using the latest available OECD data. The figures include personal income taxes, corporate taxes, property taxes, VAT, social security payments, consumption taxes and other taxes.
Across the OECD, the average is 34.1% of GDP. However, the range is wide: some countries collect less than one-fifth of GDP, while others collect nearly half. Denmark ranks first, collecting 45.2% of GDP in tax revenue, followed by France and Austria.
European countries dominate the top of the ranking. Nineteen of the top 20 OECD countries are in Europe. The article explains that many European countries follow a social-market model, where higher taxes help pay for public education, healthcare, pensions and labour systems.
Not all European countries fit this pattern. Ireland and Switzerland collect much less than the OECD average. Ireland has used its tax system to attract multinational companies, while Switzerland is known as a financial centre.
The United States is much lower in the ranking than many other developed economies. In 2024, the U.S. collected 25.6% of GDP in tax revenue, below the OECD average and above only seven OECD members.
The article notes that countries with lower tax burdens may be attractive to businesses and individuals. However, they may also offer fewer public-spending benefits than countries such as Canada, Japan or New Zealand.
Several countries in the Americas collect even less than the United States. The four Latin American OECD members all collect under 25% of GDP, with Mexico at 18.3%, the lowest figure in the ranking.
Questions
1. What does tax revenue as a share of GDP show?
It shows how much of a country’s economy ends up in government coffers.
2. Which types of taxes are included in the figures?
They include income, corporate, property, VAT, social security, consumption and other taxes.
3. Which country collects the most tax revenue relative to GDP?
Denmark ranks first, collecting 45.2% of GDP in tax revenue.
4. What pattern appears among the highest-tax OECD countries?
Nineteen of the top 20 OECD countries by tax revenue share are in Europe.
5. How does the United States compare with the OECD average?
The U.S. collected 25.6% of GDP, below the OECD average.
Vocabulary
Click an option. It turns green if correct and red if incorrect.
Exercise 1: Key economic vocabulary
1. What does government coffers mean?
private bank accounts
public money available to the government
international loans
2. What does tax burden mean?
the total number of tax offices
the speed of tax payments
the amount of tax people or companies have to pay
3. What does relative to GDP mean?
compared with the size of the economy
paid only by relatives
separate from economic activity
4. What is a multinational corporation?
a company that sells only one product
a company that operates in several countries
a government department
Exercise 2: Complete the sentences
1. Denmark ______ the ranking with 45.2% of GDP.
tops
lowers
splits
2. The U.S. ______ the OECD average.
exceeds
matches
trails
3. Higher taxes can help ______ public services.
avoid
fund
rank
4. Ireland is described as an ______ because it differs from the European pattern.
outlier
average
coffer
Useful data phrases
Phrase
Use
ranks first / near the bottom
Position in a ranking
above / below the average
Comparison with a benchmark
collects X% of GDP
Describing tax revenue share
trails / exceeds
More formal comparison verbs
Grammar: Comparing data
Focus: Use comparison structures to describe charts and rankings.
Higher/lower than: Denmark’s tax revenue share is higher than the OECD average.
Far less / far more: The U.S. collects far less relative tax revenue than Denmark.
While / whereas: Denmark collects 45.2% of GDP, whereas Mexico collects 18.3%.
Compared with: Compared with many European countries, the U.S. has a lower tax burden.
Exercise 1: Choose the best comparison phrase
Click an option. It turns green or red immediately.
1. Denmark collects ______ tax revenue than the OECD average.
