PHILIPSBURG, WILLEMSTAD – Sint Maarten collects considerably less in taxes and mandatory social premiums relative to the size of its economy than Curaçao, with the gap between the two countries approaching 20 percentage points of GDP.
The latest comparative factsheets published by the financial supervision colleges put Sint Maarten's collective burden at approximately 23–24% of GDP for 2025. Curaçao stands at roughly 42%.
That makes the difference between the two countries approximately 19 percentage points, despite both operating within the Dutch Kingdom and sharing a monetary union.
Sint Maarten's total consists of approximately 14–15 percentage points in taxes and around nine percentage points in mandatory social premiums. Curaçao, by comparison, collects taxes equivalent to approximately 28% of GDP and social premiums of around 14%.
The difference is not new. Earlier research by the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten also identified a substantial structural gap in the tax and premium burden between the two countries.
However, a lower collective burden does not automatically mean households in Sint Maarten have more disposable income or enjoy a higher standard of living.
The figure measures what government and mandatory social insurance systems collect relative to GDP. It does not measure how much individual households pay for healthcare, pensions, education, insurance or other services privately.
It also reflects differences in government revenue collection and the size and design of social programs.
Healthcare provides one striking example. The Cft calculated Curaçao's healthcare expenditure at 14.7% of GDP in 2023, compared with approximately 6.5% in Sint Maarten.
Sint Maarten's substantially lower collective burden can therefore be interpreted in different ways. For households and businesses, lower taxation can leave more resources in the private economy. For government, however, lower revenue can also restrict its capacity to finance public services and investments.
The Cft has previously described Sint Maarten's tax and premium burden as internationally low and has repeatedly called for improvements to the country's tax system and collection capacity.
The comparison with Curaçao consequently highlights two very different fiscal challenges. Curaçao must determine how to finance growing healthcare and pension obligations without pushing an already high collective burden significantly higher, while Sint Maarten faces the challenge of strengthening public finances and government services from a considerably smaller revenue base.
For Curaçao, that debate is becoming increasingly urgent as the government prepares for rising AOV costs, an aging population and growing pressure on the social insurance funds.