OECD Tax Wedge by Country
Chile leads at 7.5%, while Belgium sits last at 52.5%, with all 37 OECD countries on the same processed data basis.
This table ranks 37 populated 2025 Taxing Wages rows. Colombia is omitted because income tax, employee SSC, employer SSC, and total wedge are all 0: a missing-data row, not a 0% OECD tax wedge. The populated floor is Chile at 7.5%.
Payslip layers - top of OECD Tax Wedge by Country
2025 OECD Taxing Wages at 100% of average wage · income tax · employee SSC · employer SSC
Top 15 - OECD Tax Wedge by Country
OECD Taxing Wages (2025 data) · OECD PPP
The bar to make this list
Every OECD country's oecd tax wedge by country on one scale. A country needs 31.5% to reach the top 10; the median sits at 39.3%.
| Rank | Country | Total Wedge Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇨🇱 Chile | 7.5% |
| 2 | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | 20.8% |
| 3 | 🇲🇽 Mexico | 21.7% |
| 4 | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | 23.0% |
| 5 | 🇰🇷 South Korea | 24.8% |
| 6 | 🇮🇱 Israel | 26.1% |
| 7 | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | 27.7% |
| 8 | 🇦🇺 Australia | 27.9% |
| 9 | 🇺🇸 United States | 30.0% |
| 10 | 🇮🇸 Iceland | 31.5% |
| 11 | 🇨🇦 Canada | 32.1% |
| 12 | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 32.4% |
| 13 | 🇮🇪 Ireland | 32.6% |
| 14 | 🇯🇵 Japan | 33.1% |
| 15 | 🇵🇱 Poland | 35.0% |
| 16 | 🇩🇰 Denmark | 35.8% |
| 17 | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | 35.9% |
| 18 | 🇳🇴 Norway | 36.4% |
| 19 | 🇬🇷 Greece | 39.3% |
| 20 | 🇵🇹 Portugal | 39.3% |
| 21 | 🇱🇹 Lithuania | 39.8% |
| 22 | 🇱🇻 Latvia | 40.1% |
| 23 | 🇱🇺 Luxembourg | 40.2% |
| 24 | 🇹🇷 Turkey | 40.3% |
| 25 | 🇸🇪 Sweden | 41.1% |
| 26 | 🇭🇺 Hungary | 41.2% |
| 27 | 🇨🇿 Czechia | 41.2% |
| 28 | 🇪🇸 Spain | 41.4% |
| 29 | 🇫🇮 Finland | 42.5% |
| 30 | 🇪🇪 Estonia | 42.6% |
| 31 | 🇸🇰 Slovakia | 42.7% |
| 32 | 🇸🇮 Slovenia | 45.3% |
| 33 | 🇮🇹 Italy | 45.8% |
| 34 | 🇦🇹 Austria | 47.1% |
| 35 | 🇫🇷 France | 47.2% |
| 36 | 🇩🇪 Germany | 49.3% |
| 37 | 🇧🇪 Belgium | 52.5% |
Use this ranking
Choose the next comparison, not a winner
This is the OECD employer-inclusive tax wedge: income tax plus employee and employer social-security contributions in the fixed model. It measures the tax burden on labour cost, not the employee-only deductions shown on country profiles; use both before comparing an offer.
The tax wedge stacks income tax, employee social-security contributions, and employer social-security contributions into one percentage of total labour cost. Two countries can have the same wedge with very different splits: one may load most of the burden on the employer side (invisible on a payslip), while another puts it on the employee side (visible as a smaller net pay). The split matters for relocation comparisons because employer costs affect hiring budgets, not take-home pay.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
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Frequently asked questions
How does PlainGlobalPay rank OECD countries by oecd tax wedge by country?
All 38 OECD countries are ranked by oecd tax wedge by country, using the OECD single-worker benchmark at 100% of each country's average wage, including employee and employer social-security contributions. A lower value ranks better.
What sources are behind the oecd tax wedge by country ranking?
The ranking draws on OECD Taxing Wages (2025 data). See the methodology page for the full source chain.
How current is the oecd tax wedge by country data?
Figures use the latest processed OECD Taxing Wages release for the oecd tax wedge by country at 100% of average wage. The OECD typically publishes annual Taxing Wages data in mid-year; the methodology page documents the exact publication cadence and any processing lag.