Botswana’s tax revenue was 22.4% of GDP in 2023.

Higher is better. A higher share gives the government more of its own money to pay for services and investment, and less need to borrow. Botswana's latest figure is 22.4% of GDP for 2023, up from 19.6% of GDP a year earlier, a rise of 2.8 percentage points. Since 2014 the range runs from a low of 19.6% of GDP in 2022 to a high of 27.1% of GDP in 2014. The 2023 figure is therefore a recovery from the bottom of that range, and it remains below the level at the start of the period.

Why it matters. At 22.4% of GDP, the state collects a little over a fifth of national output in tax, which sets the budget available for public wages, health, schools and roads. The rise from 2022 eases pressure on public finances, though the budget is still working with less than in 2014. Households and firms carry the tax bill, so the movement in this share shows up in what they pay and in what the government can deliver.