EU countries collected €7.1 trillion in taxes in 2024, up 5.6% on the year before, according to the latest Taxation Trends release dated 30 March 2026.
The increase came as nominal GDP across the EU-27 grew by 4.4% in 2024, which limited the rise in the overall tax-to-GDP ratio to 39.4%, up from 39.0% in 2023, the European Commission revealed in a release on Tuesday.
Denmark recorded the highest tax-to-GDP ratio in the EU-27 at 45.2%, followed by France at 43.5% and Austria at 43.4%.
Ireland had the lowest tax-to-GDP ratio at 21.7%, followed by Romania at 27.9% and Malta at 28.8%.
Labour taxes take a slightly larger share
Labour taxes — which include social contributions — rose 6.6% in nominal terms in 2024, while consumption taxes increased 5.0% and capital taxes grew 4.1%, according to the Commission.
Labour taxes accounted for 51.5% of total EU-27 tax revenue in 2024, up from 51.1% in 2023, while the shares of consumption taxes and capital taxes fell slightly to 26.8% and 21.6% respectively.
The data cover all EU member states, as well as Iceland and Norway.
