Vertical fiscal imbalance, Percent (Central government) by country

The Fiscal Decentralization dataset includes fiscal decentralization indicators for a sample of IMF member countries. The following indicators are included in the dataset: Revenue and Expenditure Decentralization Shares; Transfer dependency and Vertical Fiscal Imbalances; Deficit and Debt; Allocation of...

Countries reporting
64
Highest
0.7255
Afghanistan
Lowest
-1.59
Belgium
Median
-0.0208
Years covered
32
1989–2020
Data points
1,123

What the numbers show

Vertical fiscal imbalance, Percent (Central government) is currently reported for 64 countries. The highest value is 0.7255 in Afghanistan; the lowest is -1.59 in Belgium.

The median across all reporting countries is -0.0208, and the mean is -0.0835.

Over the past decade 41 countries rose and 21 fell. The largest increase was in Armenia (up 5,045.0%), and the largest decrease in Kiribati (down 2,192.8%).

Vertical fiscal imbalance, Percent: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Afghanistan 0.7255 2017 down 8.4% flat
2 Marshall Islands 0.4558 2018 down 32.0% falling
3 Palau 0.3751 2019 down 28.7% falling
4 Rwanda 0.3258 2020 down 0.8% falling
5 United States of America 0.3212 2020 up 56.2% volatile
6 Paraguay 0.2908 2020 up 348.1% volatile
7 Senegal 0.2802 2020 up 56.0% rising
8 Mauritius 0.2717 2020 up 812.9% volatile
9 Costa Rica 0.2529 2014 up 184.9% volatile
10 Canada 0.2153 2020 up 189.0% volatile
11 Chile 0.207 2020 up 607.7% volatile
12 Armenia 0.1925 2020 up 5,045.0% volatile
13 Guatemala 0.1795 2020 up 1,084.5% volatile
14 Georgia 0.1748 2020 up 342.6% volatile
15 Hungary 0.1736 2020 up 173.5% volatile
16 United Arab Emirates 0.1733 2020 down 39.2% falling
17 Israel 0.1716 2020 up 46.8% volatile
18 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 0.1634 2020 up 265.6% volatile
19 Uganda 0.1633 2020 up 2,855.1% volatile
20 Brazil 0.1575 2020 up 194.2% volatile
21 Bulgaria 0.1379 1994 volatile
22 El Salvador 0.1333 2020 up 30.9% volatile
23 Myanmar 0.1271 2019 up 181.5% volatile
24 Thailand 0.1175 2020 up 1,603.5% volatile
25 Mongolia 0.1037 2020 up 213.3% volatile
26 Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.1027 2020 up 785.3% volatile
27 Czechia 0.102 2020 up 111.5% volatile
28 Indonesia 0.0741 2020 up 117.5% rising
29 Honduras 0.0557 2015 up 520.4% volatile
30 Latvia 0.0149 2020 down 89.3% volatile
31 Tunisia -0.0024 1999 up 92.2% volatile
32 Peru -0.0204 2020 up 97.0% volatile
33 Iran, Islamic Republic of -0.0212 2009 down 192.2% volatile
34 Australia -0.0477 2020 up 74.2% rising
35 Kazakhstan -0.0484 2020 up 94.8% volatile
36 Türkiye -0.0518 2020 up 39.3% volatile
37 North Macedonia -0.0623 2020 up 80.1% flat
38 Albania -0.0785 2020 up 37.5% volatile
39 Lithuania -0.1062 2020 down 157.3% volatile
40 Kiribati -0.119 2020 down 2,192.8% volatile
41 Estonia -0.1197 2020 up 24.5% rising
42 Belarus -0.1308 2020 up 42.1% volatile
43 Portugal -0.1454 2018 down 194.9% volatile
44 Colombia -0.1727 2020 down 277.4% falling
45 Ukraine -0.1743 2020 up 61.3% falling
46 Kyrgyzstan -0.183 2019 down 564.1% volatile
47 Kenya -0.2002 2020 down 1,077.8% volatile
48 Iceland -0.2346 2020 down 84.0% volatile
49 Azerbaijan -0.2522 2019 up 31.6% volatile
50 South Africa -0.2585 2020 up 49.7% rising
51 Uzbekistan -0.2646 2020 rising
52 Serbia -0.2759 2020 up 15.4% falling
53 Austria -0.3456 2020 up 37.8% falling
54 Republic of Korea -0.3885 2020 up 11.1% flat
55 Russian Federation -0.4439 2020 up 12.7% rising
56 Spain -0.5758 2020 up 21.3% falling
57 Japan -0.6212 2020 down 9.5% falling
58 Sweden -0.6223 2020 down 1.0% volatile
59 Republic of Moldova -0.6668 2020 down 21.3% falling
60 Mexico -0.71 2020 down 27.3% falling
61 Germany -0.8147 2020 down 90.9% falling
62 Netherlands -0.9138 2020 down 6.9% falling
63 Switzerland -0.927 2020 up 26.3% falling
64 Belgium -1.59 2020 down 16.6% falling

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Vertical fiscal imbalance, Percent by country. Statizoid, drawing on International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 22 August 2026, from https://public-sector.statizoid.com/stat/vertical-fiscal-imbalance-percent-central-government/

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About this data

Indicator
Vertical fiscal imbalance, Percent (Central government)
Source
International Monetary Fund
Licence
IMF Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage
64 places, 1,123 data points, 1989–2020
Last refreshed

The Fiscal Decentralization dataset includes fiscal decentralization indicators for a sample of IMF member countries. The following indicators are included in the dataset: Revenue and Expenditure Decentralization Shares; Transfer dependency and Vertical Fiscal Imbalances; Deficit and Debt; Allocation of expenditure (economic classification); Allocation of expenditure (functional classification); Allocation of non-Tax Revenues; and Allocation of Taxes.