Tax rate on low wage earners - unemployment trap by country
Countries reporting
44
Highest
90.65 Rate
Luxembourg
Lowest
53.76 Rate
Ireland
Median
75.47 Rate
Years covered
25
2001–2025
Data points
1,051
What the numbers show
Tax rate on low wage earners - unemployment trap is currently reported for 44 countries. The highest value is 90.65 Rate in Luxembourg; the lowest is 53.76 Rate in Ireland.
The median across all reporting countries is 75.47 Rate, and the mean is 74.63 Rate.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 2.
Over the past decade 21 countries rose and 23 fell. The largest increase was in Malta (up 72.5%), and the largest decrease in Slovenia (down 21.6%).
Tax rate on low wage earners - unemployment trap: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luxembourg | 90.65 Rate | 2025 | up 3.5% | rising |
| 2 | Czechia | 89.25 Rate | 2025 | up 9.2% | rising |
| 3 | Croatia | 88.37 Rate | 2025 | up 10.7% | rising |
| 4 | Croatia | 88.14 Rate | 2025 | up 10.5% | rising |
| 5 | Lithuania | 87.54 Rate | 2025 | up 7.3% | rising |
| 6 | Lithuania | 87.53 Rate | 2025 | up 7.3% | rising |
| 7 | Belgium | 85.29 Rate | 2025 | down 5.9% | flat |
| 8 | Iceland | 85 Rate | 2023 | down 1.4% | rising |
| 9 | Latvia | 84.43 Rate | 2025 | down 3.9% | falling |
| 10 | Malta | 84.18 Rate | 2025 | up 72.5% | rising |
| 11 | Denmark | 83.56 Rate | 2025 | down 5.9% | falling |
| 12 | Latvia | 83.13 Rate | 2025 | down 5.4% | falling |
| 13 | Bulgaria | 82.4 Rate | 2025 | up 1.0% | flat |
| 14 | Portugal | 81.47 Rate | 2025 | up 3.4% | flat |
| 15 | Switzerland | 79.6 Rate | 2024 | up 3.9% | flat |
| 16 | Netherlands | 79.11 Rate | 2025 | down 3.2% | flat |
| 17 | Norway | 78.7 Rate | 2023 | up 3.7% | flat |
| 18 | Sweden | 77.06 Rate | 2025 | up 10.7% | falling |
| 19 | Netherlands | 76.99 Rate | 2025 | down 5.8% | flat |
| 20 | Germany | 76.5 Rate | 2025 | up 4.7% | flat |
| 21 | Spain | 76.12 Rate | 2025 | down 6.3% | flat |
| 22 | Hungary | 75.82 Rate | 2025 | down 3.3% | rising |
| 23 | France | 75.13 Rate | 2025 | down 1.8% | falling |
| 24 | Estonia | 74.33 Rate | 2025 | up 18.2% | rising |
| 25 | Slovakia | 73.12 Rate | 2025 | up 4.5% | flat |
| 26 | Poland | 72.95 Rate | 2025 | up 17.1% | falling |
| 27 | Estonia | 72.88 Rate | 2025 | up 15.9% | rising |
| 28 | Slovenia | 72.71 Rate | 2025 | down 18.9% | falling |
| 29 | Austria | 71.62 Rate | 2025 | down 3.1% | falling |
| 30 | Japan | 71.1 Rate | 2023 | down 6.9% | falling |
| 31 | Slovenia | 70.28 Rate | 2025 | down 21.6% | falling |
| 32 | Finland | 69.28 Rate | 2025 | down 12.5% | falling |
| 33 | Poland | 68.79 Rate | 2025 | up 10.4% | falling |
| 34 | Italy | 68.72 Rate | 2025 | down 16.0% | rising |
| 35 | Cyprus | 67.16 Rate | 2025 | up 4.4% | rising |
| 36 | Slovakia | 64.32 Rate | 2025 | down 8.1% | flat |
| 37 | Romania | 61.38 Rate | 2025 | up 23.5% | flat |
| 38 | Türkiye | 61.2 Rate | 2023 | down 4.2% | flat |
| 39 | United States | 59.7 Rate | 2023 | down 15.6% | falling |
| 39 | United States | 59.7 Rate | 2023 | down 15.6% | falling |
| 41 | Greece | 59.36 Rate | 2025 | up 9.7% | falling |
| 42 | United Kingdom | 57.8 Rate | 2019 | down 11.6% | falling |
| 42 | United Kingdom | 57.8 Rate | 2019 | down 11.6% | falling |
| 44 | Ireland | 53.76 Rate | 2025 | down 18.8% | falling |
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) 76.4 Rate
- Euro area – 20 countries (2023-2025) 74.77 Rate
- European Union - 27 countries (from 2020) 74.5 Rate
- European Union - 15 countries (1995-2004) 73.2 Rate
- European Union - 28 countries (2013-2020) 72.1 Rate