South Koreans now contribute more to their national economic output through taxes than Americans, albeit below the average of developed economies, according to latest data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

According to OECD annual Revenue Statistics report on Sunday, the total revenue collected on income and profits, social security contributions, and other taxes as a percentage to the gross domestic product reached 26.3 percent for South Korea in 2016, up 1.1 percentage points from a year earlier or the fastest gain since 2007.

The surge of tax-to-GDP ratio for Korea to a historic high in 2016 can be attributed to the 11.3 percent jump in national tax income and 6.3 percent gain in local taxes last year to bring the country record tax revenue of over 300 trillion won ($274.5 billion).

Among OECD members, five nationals have lesser tax burden than Koreans - Mexicans with 17.2 percent, Chileans with 20.4 percent, the Irish with 23 percent, the Turkish with 25.5 percent, and Americans with 26 percent.

European countries recorded higher tax-to-GDP ratio. Demark topped the list with 45.9 percent, followed by France with 45.3 percent and Sweden with 44.1 percent. Italy’s tax-to-GDP ratio stood at 42.9 percent and Germany 37.6 percent.

The tax-to-GDP ratio among OECD members averaged at 34.2 percent.

By Yoon Won-sup and Cho Jeehyun

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