Tax rate on low wage earners - tax wedge on labour costs by country
Countries reporting
44
Highest
44.7 Rate
Germany
Lowest
20 Rate
Switzerland
Median
36.75 Rate
Years covered
26
2000–2025
Data points
1,136
What the numbers show
Tax rate on low wage earners - tax wedge on labour costs is currently reported for 44 countries. The highest value is 44.7 Rate in Germany; the lowest is 20 Rate in Switzerland.
The median across all reporting countries is 36.75 Rate, and the mean is 35.38 Rate.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 2.
Over the past decade 20 countries rose and 24 fell. The largest increase was in Cyprus (up 39.3%), and the largest decrease in Belgium (down 16.2%).
Tax rate on low wage earners - tax wedge on labour costs: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany | 44.7 Rate | 2025 | down 1.3% | falling |
| 2 | Slovenia | 44.4 Rate | 2025 | up 15.0% | flat |
| 3 | Slovakia | 43.6 Rate | 2025 | up 11.5% | rising |
| 4 | Slovenia | 43.3 Rate | 2025 | up 12.2% | falling |
| 5 | Romania | 42.8 Rate | 2025 | up 11.7% | falling |
| 6 | Slovakia | 42.7 Rate | 2025 | up 9.2% | rising |
| 7 | Austria | 42.6 Rate | 2025 | down 5.5% | flat |
| 8 | Belgium | 41.4 Rate | 2025 | down 16.2% | falling |
| 9 | Hungary | 41.2 Rate | 2025 | down 15.9% | falling |
| 10 | Czechia | 39.9 Rate | 2025 | down 0.2% | falling |
| 11 | Italy | 39.3 Rate | 2025 | down 3.7% | falling |
| 11 | Estonia | 39.3 Rate | 2025 | up 3.4% | falling |
| 13 | Poland | 39.1 Rate | 2025 | up 11.7% | falling |
| 14 | Sweden | 39 Rate | 2025 | down 3.9% | falling |
| 15 | Latvia | 38.9 Rate | 2025 | down 6.7% | falling |
| 16 | Croatia | 38.5 Rate | 2025 | up 10.0% | rising |
| 17 | Croatia | 38.3 Rate | 2025 | up 9.4% | rising |
| 18 | Poland | 38.2 Rate | 2025 | up 9.1% | falling |
| 19 | France | 38 Rate | 2025 | down 12.8% | falling |
| 20 | Latvia | 37.8 Rate | 2025 | down 9.4% | falling |
| 21 | Estonia | 37.4 Rate | 2025 | down 1.6% | falling |
| 22 | Spain | 37.1 Rate | 2025 | up 3.3% | flat |
| 23 | Greece | 36.4 Rate | 2025 | up 5.2% | flat |
| 24 | Lithuania | 36.1 Rate | 2025 | down 8.1% | falling |
| 25 | Finland | 35.7 Rate | 2025 | down 5.8% | falling |
| 25 | Lithuania | 35.7 Rate | 2025 | down 9.2% | falling |
| 27 | Bulgaria | 34.9 Rate | 2025 | up 3.9% | flat |
| 28 | Denmark | 34.7 Rate | 2025 | up 3.9% | falling |
| 28 | Türkiye | 34.7 Rate | 2024 | down 3.1% | falling |
| 30 | Netherlands | 34.4 Rate | 2025 | up 7.5% | falling |
| 31 | Luxembourg | 33.7 Rate | 2025 | up 4.0% | rising |
| 32 | Portugal | 32.5 Rate | 2025 | down 7.9% | rising |
| 33 | Norway | 32.3 Rate | 2024 | down 4.4% | falling |
| 34 | Netherlands | 30.7 Rate | 2025 | down 4.1% | falling |
| 34 | Japan | 30.7 Rate | 2024 | up 0.3% | rising |
| 36 | United States | 27.6 Rate | 2024 | down 6.4% | falling |
| 37 | United States | 27.5 Rate | 2023 | down 6.5% | falling |
| 38 | Iceland | 27.3 Rate | 2024 | down 8.1% | rising |
| 39 | Malta | 26.5 Rate | 2025 | up 11.3% | rising |
| 40 | United Kingdom | 26.1 Rate | 2019 | down 10.6% | falling |
| 41 | United Kingdom | 25.3 Rate | 2024 | down 3.4% | falling |
| 42 | Cyprus | 24.1 Rate | 2025 | up 39.3% | rising |
| 43 | Ireland | 22.5 Rate | 2025 | down 9.6% | rising |
| 44 | Switzerland | 20 Rate | 2024 | up 4.2% | flat |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- Euro area - 19 countries (2015-2022) 39.6 Rate
- Euro area – 20 countries (2023-2025) 39.5 Rate
- European Union - 27 countries (from 2020) 39.5 Rate
- European Union - 15 countries (1995-2004) 38 Rate
- European Union - 28 countries (2013-2020) 37.9 Rate