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Data

Top marginal income tax rate

About this data

Source
Alvaredo et al. (2018) – processed by Our World in Data
Last updated
January 27, 2021
Date range
1900–2017
Unit
percent

Sources and processing

This data is based on the following sources

Alvaredo et al. – World Inequality Report 2018

The World Inequality Report 2018 provides a long-term series of the top marginal income tax rates in rich countries including the US, UK, France, Germany, and Japan from 1900 to 2017.

The top marginal income tax rates reported include general income tax supplements (such as surtaxes applying to all incomes above a certain level) but excludes all other taxes and social contributions.

For more detailed information on the construction of the top marginal income tax rate country-by-country, see page 161 of the World Inequality Report 2018 Technical Notes for Figures and Tables.

Retrieved on
January 27, 2021
Retrieved from
https://wir2018.wid.world/methodology.html
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Alvaredo, F., Chancel, L., Piketty, T., Saez, E., and Zucman, G. (Eds.). (2018). World Inequality Report 2018. Belknap Press.

The World Inequality Report 2018 provides a long-term series of the top marginal income tax rates in rich countries including the US, UK, France, Germany, and Japan from 1900 to 2017.

The top marginal income tax rates reported include general income tax supplements (such as surtaxes applying to all incomes above a certain level) but excludes all other taxes and social contributions.

For more detailed information on the construction of the top marginal income tax rate country-by-country, see page 161 of the World Inequality Report 2018 Technical Notes for Figures and Tables.

Retrieved on
January 27, 2021
Retrieved from
https://wir2018.wid.world/methodology.html
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Alvaredo, F., Chancel, L., Piketty, T., Saez, E., and Zucman, G. (Eds.). (2018). World Inequality Report 2018. Belknap Press.

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Citations

How to cite this page

To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by Our World in Data, please use the following citation:

“Data Page: Top marginal income tax rate”. Our World in Data (2026). Data adapted from Alvaredo et al.. Retrieved from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260512-085513/grapher/top-income-tax-rates-piketty.html [online resource] (archived on May 12, 2026).

How to cite this data

In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:

Alvaredo et al. (2018) – processed by Our World in Data

Full citation

Alvaredo et al. (2018) – processed by Our World in Data. “Top marginal income tax rate” [dataset]. Alvaredo et al., “World Inequality Report 2018” [original data]. Retrieved May 12, 2026 from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260512-085513/grapher/top-income-tax-rates-piketty.html (archived on May 12, 2026).

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