Tax wedge on labour (OECD)
Peer lines share one grey on purpose: hover for countries. The compared series can differ slightly from the Dutch definition above.
Countries are ordered by value, highest first — rank 1 means the highest number, not “the best”. A year is ranked only when all 8 countries report it; missing years stay gaps. The EU average is not a country and is not ranked.
Known criticisms of this statistic
Every statistic embodies method choices, and the substantive critiques of those choices are part of understanding the number. These are documented positions — each linked to who makes it. Listing a criticism is not endorsing it; we take no side.
The OECD's own methodology box states that consumption taxes such as VAT are not counted — the wedge covers income tax and social contributions only, and the OECD itself notes that indirect taxes 'should also be taken into account' to assess the government's overall impact on welfare.
— OECD (its own methodology notes), Taxing Wages 2026 · OECD Taxing Wages 2026, methodology (Box 3)
An OECD working paper showed that adding consumption taxes to the wedge changes how countries rank against each other — the published wedge understates the total tax burden on labour income, and by a different amount in each country.
— Picos-Sánchez, OECD Taxation Working Papers No. 7, 2011 · OECD: Consumption Taxation as an Additional Burden on Labour Income
Source & method
| Source | OECD OECD.CTP.TPS,DSD_TAX_WAGES_COMP@DF_TW_COMP,2.1 |
|---|---|
| Licence | OECD Terms & Conditions (free reuse with attribution) |
| Trend method | OLS over last 8 annual observations, 5% significance (MBW convention) |
| Revisions | None recorded since 2026-07-07. Every retrieval is stored append-only; when the source restates history, the old and new values become comparable here. |
| Pipeline notes | Verified 6 Jul 2026. Series key NLD.AV_TW.PT_COS_LB.S_C0.AW100._Z.A (REF_AREA.MEASURE.UNIT.HOUSEHOLD_TYPE.INCOME_PRINCIPAL.INCOME_SPOUSE.FREQ); NL from 2000. |
Raw snapshot (JSON) · every observation keeps its retrieval timestamp and revision history in the public database.
Data table — Tax wedge on labour (Netherlands)
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 35.9[A] |
| 2024 | 35.9[A] |
| 2023 | 36.0[A] |
| 2022 | 36.6[A] |
| 2021 | 35.4[A] |
| 2020 | 36.6[A] |
| 2019 | 37.1[A] |
| 2018 | 37.6[A] |
| 2017 | 37.3[A] |
| 2016 | 37.0[A] |
| 2015 | 36.9[A] |
| 2014 | 37.0[A] |
| 2013 | 37.3[A] |
| 2012 | 38.6[A] |
| 2011 | 38.0[A] |
| 2010 | 38.1[A] |
| 2009 | 38.0[A] |
| 2008 | 39.2[A] |
| 2007 | 38.7[A] |
| 2006 | 38.4[A] |
| 2005 | 38.9[A] |
| 2004 | 38.8[A] |
| 2003 | 37.2[A] |
| 2002 | 37.4[A] |
| 2001 | 37.4[A] |
| 2000 | 40.0[A] |