Lhe Lowest tax-to-GDP Ratio

Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, announced that Lithuania has the lowest tax-to-GDP ratio in the EU – 28.7 per cent. The tax burden in the European Union in 2003 ranged from 28.7 per cent of GDP in Lithuania to 51.4 per cent in Sweden. The overall tax burden in the EU25 - the total amount of taxes and social security contributions - stood at 41.5% of GDP in 2003 compared with 41.3% in 2002. After an increase from 42.4% in 1998 to 42.9% in 1999, the tax-to-GDP ratio declined steadily from 1999 to 2002. In all ten new Member States, the tax-to-GDP ratio was lower in 2003 than the EU15 average (41.8%). The 2003 total tax burden varied significantly among the EU Member States. Sweden (51.4%) recorded the highest tax-to-GDP ratio, followed by Denmark (49.8%), Belgium (48.1%), France (45.7%) and Finland (45.1%). The lowest ratios were observed in Lithuania (28.7%), Latvia (29.1%), Slovakia (30.9%), Ireland (31.2%) and Estonia (33.4%).