100+ datasets found
  1. Gini Index - countries with the biggest inequality in income distribution...

    • statista.com
    Updated Jun 16, 2025
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    Statista (2025). Gini Index - countries with the biggest inequality in income distribution 2024 [Dataset]. https://www.statista.com/statistics/264627/ranking-of-the-20-countries-with-the-biggest-inequality-in-income-distribution/
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    Dataset updated
    Jun 16, 2025
    Dataset authored and provided by
    Statistahttp://statista.com/
    Area covered
    Worldwide
    Description

    South Africa had the highest inequality in income distribution in 2024, with a Gini score of **. Its South African neighbor, Namibia, followed in second. The Gini coefficient measures the deviation of income (or consumption) distribution among individuals or households within a country from a perfectly equal distribution. A value of 0 represents absolute equality, and a value of 100 represents absolute inequality. All the 20 most unequal countries in the world were either located in Africa or Latin America & The Caribbean.

  2. Gini coefficient income distribution inequality in Latin America 2023, by...

    • statista.com
    • ai-chatbox.pro
    Updated May 6, 2025
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    Statista (2025). Gini coefficient income distribution inequality in Latin America 2023, by country [Dataset]. https://www.statista.com/statistics/980285/income-distribution-gini-coefficient-latin-america-caribbean-country/
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    Dataset updated
    May 6, 2025
    Dataset authored and provided by
    Statistahttp://statista.com/
    Area covered
    LAC, Latin America
    Description

    Based on the degree of inequality in income distribution measured by the Gini coefficient, Colombia was the most unequal country in Latin America as of 2022. Colombia's Gini coefficient amounted to 54.8. The Dominican Republic recorded the lowest Gini coefficient at 37, even below Uruguay and Chile, which are some of the countries with the highest human development indexes in Latin America. The Gini coefficient explained The Gini coefficient measures the deviation of the distribution of income among individuals or households in a given country from a perfectly equal distribution. A value of 0 represents absolute equality, whereas 100 would be the highest possible degree of inequality. This measurement reflects the degree of wealth inequality at a certain moment in time, though it may fail to capture how average levels of income improve or worsen over time. What affects the Gini coefficient in Latin America? Latin America, as other developing regions in the world, generally records high rates of inequality, with a Gini coefficient ranging between 37 and 55 points according to the latest available data from the reporting period 2010-2023. According to the Human Development Report, wealth redistribution by means of tax transfers improves Latin America's Gini coefficient to a lesser degree than it does in advanced economies. Wider access to education and health services, on the other hand, have been proven to have a greater direct effect in improving Gini coefficient measurements in the region.

  3. Gini Index

    • resourcewatch.org
    Updated Apr 24, 2018
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    World Bank Group (2018). Gini Index [Dataset]. https://resourcewatch.org/data/explore/GINI-Index
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    Dataset updated
    Apr 24, 2018
    Dataset provided by
    World Bankhttp://worldbank.org/
    Authors
    World Bank Group
    License

    Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
    License information was derived automatically

    Area covered
    Global
    Description

    The Gini index measures economic inequality in a country. Specifically, it is the extent to which the distribution of income (or, in some cases, consumption expenditure) deviates from a perfectly equal distribution among individuals or households within an economy.

  4. Gini index worldwide 2024, by country

    • statista.com
    Updated Mar 10, 2025
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    Statista (2025). Gini index worldwide 2024, by country [Dataset]. https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1171540/gini-index-by-country
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    Dataset updated
    Mar 10, 2025
    Dataset authored and provided by
    Statistahttp://statista.com/
    Time period covered
    Jan 1, 2024 - Dec 31, 2024
    Area covered
    Albania
    Description

    Comparing the 130 selected regions regarding the gini index , South Africa is leading the ranking (0.63 points) and is followed by Namibia with 0.58 points. At the other end of the spectrum is Slovakia with 0.23 points, indicating a difference of 0.4 points to South Africa. The Gini coefficient here measures the degree of income inequality on a scale from 0 (=total equality of incomes) to one (=total inequality).The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in more than 150 countries and regions worldwide. All input data are sourced from international institutions, national statistical offices, and trade associations. All data has been are processed to generate comparable datasets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).

  5. w

    World Income Inequality Database

    • data.wu.ac.at
    xls
    Updated Oct 11, 2013
    + more versions
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    Global (2013). World Income Inequality Database [Dataset]. https://data.wu.ac.at/odso/datahub_io/NmE4MjM0MmEtMmE0MC00Y2RlLTlmMzktYjFhZTBmMTc1MWQz
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    xlsAvailable download formats
    Dataset updated
    Oct 11, 2013
    Dataset provided by
    Global
    Description

    The World Income Inequality Database (WIID) contains information on income inequality in various countries, and is maintained by the United Nations University-World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER). The database was originally compiled during 1997-99 for the research project Rising Income Inequality and Poverty Reduction, directed by Giovanni Andrea Corina. A revised and updated version of the database was published in June 2005 as part of the project Global Trends in Inequality and Poverty, directed by Tony Shorrocks and Guang Hua Wan. The database was revised in 2007 and a new version was launched in May 2008.

    The database contains data on inequality in the distribution of income in various countries. The central variable in the dataset is the Gini index, a measure of income distribution in a society. In addition, the dataset contains information on income shares by quintile or decile. The database contains data for 159 countries, including some historical entities. The temporal coverage varies substantially across countries. For some countries there is only one data entry; in other cases there are over 100 data points. The earliest entry is from 1867 (United Kingdom), the latest from 2003. The majority of the data (65%) cover the years from 1980 onwards. The 2008 update (version WIID2c) includes some major updates and quality improvements, in fact leading to a reduced number of variables in the new version. The new version has 334 new observations and several revisions/ corrections made in 2007 and 2008.

  6. Income Inequality in U.S. Counties

    • hub.arcgis.com
    Updated Sep 29, 2015
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    Urban Observatory by Esri (2015). Income Inequality in U.S. Counties [Dataset]. https://hub.arcgis.com/maps/b2db6f24618d4aad9885d2dd51024842
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    Dataset updated
    Sep 29, 2015
    Dataset provided by
    Esrihttp://esri.com/
    Authors
    Urban Observatory by Esri
    Area covered
    Description

    Income InequalityThe level of income inequality among households in a county can be measured using the Gini index. A Gini index varies between zero and one. A value of one indicates perfect inequality, where only one household in the county has any income. A value of zero indicates perfect equality, where all households in the county have equal income.The United States, as a country, has a Gini Index of 0.47 for this time period. For comparision in this map, the purple counties have greater income inequality, while orange counties have less inequality of incomes. For reference, Brazil has an index of 0.58 (relatively high inequality) and Denmark has an index of 0.24 (relatively low inequality).The 5-year Gini index for the U.S. was 0.4695 in 2007-2011 and 0.467 in 2006-2010. Appalachian Regional Commission, September 2013Data source: U.S. Census Bureau, 5-Year American Community Survey, 2006-2010 & 2007-2011

  7. Economic Disparity

    • kaggle.com
    Updated Mar 9, 2024
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    willian oliveira gibin (2024). Economic Disparity [Dataset]. http://doi.org/10.34740/kaggle/dsv/7802717
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    CroissantCroissant is a format for machine-learning datasets. Learn more about this at mlcommons.org/croissant.
    Dataset updated
    Mar 9, 2024
    Dataset provided by
    Kaggle
    Authors
    willian oliveira gibin
    License

    https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

    Description

    this graphs is ourdataworld :

    https://www.googleapis.com/download/storage/v1/b/kaggle-user-content/o/inbox%2F16731800%2F00b0f9cc2bd8326c60fd0ea3b5dbe4b7%2Finequality.png?generation=1710013947537354&alt=media" alt="">

    https://www.googleapis.com/download/storage/v1/b/kaggle-user-content/o/inbox%2F16731800%2F1978511abe249d3081a3a95bae2ef7d5%2Fincome-share-top-1-before-tax-wid-extrapolations.png?generation=1710013977201099&alt=media" alt="">

    https://www.googleapis.com/download/storage/v1/b/kaggle-user-content/o/inbox%2F16731800%2F2a5a54725f65801ba75b6ab07bc5cb9f%2Fincome-share-top-1-before-tax-wid-extrapolations%20(1).png?generation=1710013994341360&alt=media" alt="">

    How are incomes and wealth distributed between people? Both within countries and across the world as a whole?

    On this page, you can find all our data, visualizations, and writing relating to economic inequality.

    This evidence demonstrates that inequality in many countries is substantial and, in numerous instances, has been escalating. Global economic inequality is extensive and exacerbated by intersecting disparities in health, education, and various other dimensions.

    However, economic inequality is not uniformly increasing. In many countries, it has declined or remained steady. Furthermore, global inequality – following two centuries of ascent – is presently decreasing as well.

    The significant variations observed across countries and over time are pivotal. They indicate that high and rising inequality is not inevitable and that the current extent of inequality is subject to change.

    About this data This data explorer offers various inequality indicators measured according to two distinct definitions of income sourced from different outlets.

    Data from the World Inequality Database pertains to inequality prior to taxes and benefits. Data from the World Bank pertains to either income post taxes and benefits or consumption, contingent on the country and year. For additional details regarding the definitions and methodologies underlying this data, refer to the accompanying article below, where you can also delve into and juxtapose a broader spectrum of indicators from various sources.

  8. Latin America: wealth inequality based on income concentration by country...

    • statista.com
    Updated Jul 24, 2024
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    Statista (2024). Latin America: wealth inequality based on income concentration by country 2022 [Dataset]. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1050681/latin-america-income-inequality-country/
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    Dataset updated
    Jul 24, 2024
    Dataset authored and provided by
    Statistahttp://statista.com/
    Area covered
    Latin America, LAC
    Description

    Brazil is one of the most unequal countries in terms of income in Latin America. In 2022, it was estimated that almost 57 percent of the income generated in Brazil was held by the richest 20 percent of its population. Among the Latin American countries with available data included in this graph, Colombia came in first, as the wealthiest 20 percent of the Colombian population held over 59 percent of the country's total income.

  9. B

    Brazil BR: Gini Coefficient (GINI Index): World Bank Estimate

    • ceicdata.com
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    CEICdata.com, Brazil BR: Gini Coefficient (GINI Index): World Bank Estimate [Dataset]. https://www.ceicdata.com/en/brazil/social-poverty-and-inequality/br-gini-coefficient-gini-index-world-bank-estimate
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    Dataset provided by
    CEICdata.com
    License

    Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
    License information was derived automatically

    Time period covered
    Dec 1, 2011 - Dec 1, 2022
    Area covered
    Brazil
    Description

    Brazil BR: Gini Coefficient (GINI Index): World Bank Estimate data was reported at 52.000 % in 2022. This records a decrease from the previous number of 52.900 % for 2021. Brazil BR: Gini Coefficient (GINI Index): World Bank Estimate data is updated yearly, averaging 56.400 % from Dec 1981 (Median) to 2022, with 38 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 63.300 % in 1989 and a record low of 48.900 % in 2020. Brazil BR: Gini Coefficient (GINI Index): World Bank Estimate data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Brazil – Table BR.World Bank.WDI: Social: Poverty and Inequality. Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of income (or, in some cases, consumption expenditure) among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Lorenz curve plots the cumulative percentages of total income received against the cumulative number of recipients, starting with the poorest individual or household. The Gini index measures the area between the Lorenz curve and a hypothetical line of absolute equality, expressed as a percentage of the maximum area under the line. Thus a Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality.;World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are mostly from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see http://pip.worldbank.org.;;The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than 2000 household surveys across 169 countries. See the Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP) for details (www.pip.worldbank.org).

  10. d

    Data from: The Standardized World Income Inequality Database, Versions 8-9

    • search.dataone.org
    • dataverse.harvard.edu
    Updated Dec 20, 2023
    + more versions
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    Solt, Frederick (2023). The Standardized World Income Inequality Database, Versions 8-9 [Dataset]. http://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/LM4OWF
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    Dataset updated
    Dec 20, 2023
    Dataset provided by
    Harvard Dataverse
    Authors
    Solt, Frederick
    Time period covered
    Jan 1, 1960 - Jan 1, 2023
    Description

    Cross-national research on the causes and consequences of income inequality has been hindered by the limitations of the existing inequality datasets: greater coverage across countries and over time has been available from these sources only at the cost of significantly reduced comparability across observations. The goal of the Standardized World Income Inequality Database (SWIID) is to meet the needs of those engaged in broadly cross-national research by maximizing the comparability of income inequality data while maintaining the widest possible coverage across countries and over time. The SWIID’s income inequality estimates are based on thousands of reported Gini indices from hundreds of published sources, including the OECD Income Distribution Database, the Socio-Economic Database for Latin America and the Caribbean generated by CEDLAS and the World Bank, Eurostat, the World Bank’s PovcalNet, the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, national statistical offices around the world, and academic studies while minimizing reliance on problematic assumptions by using as much information as possible from proximate years within the same country. The data collected and harmonized by the Luxembourg Income Study is employed as the standard. The SWIID currently incorporates comparable Gini indices of disposable and market income inequality for 199 countries for as many years as possible from 1960 to the present; it also includes information on absolute and relative redistribution.

  11. a

    Areas of economic inequality

    • hub.arcgis.com
    Updated Sep 20, 2019
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    Metro (2019). Areas of economic inequality [Dataset]. https://hub.arcgis.com/maps/0680b657624d43379507eab98dbd67b9
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    Dataset updated
    Sep 20, 2019
    Dataset authored and provided by
    Metro
    License

    Open Database License (ODbL) v1.0https://www.opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1.0/
    License information was derived automatically

    Area covered
    Description

    This map shows the Gini index by census tract around the region. The Gini index is a commonly-used measure of income inequality that condenses the entire income distribution for a country into a single number between 0 and 1: the higher the number, the greater the degree of income inequality.

  12. Gini index: inequality of income distribution in China 2005-2023

    • statista.com
    Updated Jun 23, 2025
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    Statista (2025). Gini index: inequality of income distribution in China 2005-2023 [Dataset]. https://www.statista.com/statistics/250400/inequality-of-income-distribution-in-china-based-on-the-gini-index/
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    Dataset updated
    Jun 23, 2025
    Dataset authored and provided by
    Statistahttp://statista.com/
    Area covered
    China
    Description

    This statistic shows the inequality of income distribution in China from 2005 to 2023 based on the Gini Index. In 2023, China reached a score of ************ points. The Gini Index is a statistical measure that is used to represent unequal distributions, e.g. income distribution. It can take any value between 1 and 100 points (or 0 and 1). The closer the value is to 100 the greater is the inequality. 40 or 0.4 is the warning level set by the United Nations. The Gini Index for South Korea had ranged at about **** in 2022. Income distribution in China The Gini coefficient is used to measure the income inequality of a country. The United States, the World Bank, the US Central Intelligence Agency, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development all provide their own measurement of the Gini coefficient, varying in data collection and survey methods. According to the United Nations Development Programme, countries with the largest income inequality based on the Gini index are mainly located in Africa and Latin America, with South Africa displaying the world's highest value in 2022. The world's most equal countries, on the contrary, are situated mostly in Europe. The United States' Gini for household income has increased by around ten percent since 1990, to **** in 2023. Development of inequality in China Growing inequality counts as one of the biggest social, economic, and political challenges to many countries, especially emerging markets. Over the last 20 years, China has become one of the world's largest economies. As parts of the society have become more and more affluent, the country's Gini coefficient has also grown sharply over the last decades. As shown by the graph at hand, China's Gini coefficient ranged at a level higher than the warning line for increasing risk of social unrest over the last decade. However, the situation has slightly improved since 2008, when the Gini coefficient had reached the highest value of recent times.

  13. A

    ‘GapMinder - Income Inequality’ analyzed by Analyst-2

    • analyst-2.ai
    Updated Apr 1, 2020
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    Analyst-2 (analyst-2.ai) / Inspirient GmbH (inspirient.com) (2020). ‘GapMinder - Income Inequality’ analyzed by Analyst-2 [Dataset]. https://analyst-2.ai/analysis/kaggle-gapminder-income-inequality-7f0b/latest
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    Dataset updated
    Apr 1, 2020
    Dataset authored and provided by
    Analyst-2 (analyst-2.ai) / Inspirient GmbH (inspirient.com)
    License

    Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
    License information was derived automatically

    Description

    Analysis of ‘GapMinder - Income Inequality’ provided by Analyst-2 (analyst-2.ai), based on source dataset retrieved from https://www.kaggle.com/psterk/income-inequality on 28 January 2022.

    --- Dataset description provided by original source is as follows ---

    Content

    This analysis focuses on income inequailty as measured by the Gini Index* and its association with economic metrics such as GDP per capita, investments as a % of GDP, and tax revenue as a % of GDP. One polical metric, EIU democracy index, is also included.

    The data is for years 2006 - 2016

    This investigation can be considered a starting point for complex questions such as:

    1. Is a higher tax revenue as a % of GDP associated with less income inequality?
    2. Is a higher EIU democracy index associated with less income inequality?
    3. Is higher GDP per capita associated with less income inequality?
    4. Is higher investments as a % of GDP associated with less income inequality?

    This analysis uses the gapminder dataset from the Gapminder Foundation. The Gapminder Foundation is a non-profit venture registered in Stockholm, Sweden, that promotes sustainable global development and achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals by increased use and understanding of statistics and other information about social, economic and environmental development at local, national and global levels.

    *The Gini Index is a measure of statistical dispersion intended to represent the income or wealth distribution of a nation's residents, and is the most commonly used measurement of inequality. It was developed by the Italian statistician and sociologist Corrado Gini and published in his 1912 paper Variability and Mutability.

    The dataset contains data from the following GapMinder datasets:

    EIU Democracy Index:

    "This democracy index is using the data from the Economist Inteligence Unit to express the quality of democracies as a number between 0 and 100. It's based on 60 different aspects of societies that are relevant to democracy universal suffrage for all adults, voter participation, perception of human rights protection and freedom to form organizations and parties. The democracy index is calculated from the 60 indicators, divided into five ""sub indexes"", which are:

    1. Electoral pluralism index;
    2. Government index;
    3. Political participation indexm;
    4. Political culture index;
    5. Civil liberty index.

    The sub-indexes are based on the sum of scores on roughly 12 indicators per sub-index, converted into a score between 0 and 100. (The Economist publishes the index with a scale from 0 to 10, but Gapminder has converted it to 0 to 100 to make it easier to communicate as a percentage.)" https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1d0noZrwAWxNBTDSfDgG06_aLGWUz4R6fgDhRaUZbDzE/edit#gid=935776888

    Income: GDP per capita, constant PPP dollars

    GDP per capita measures the value of everything produced in a country during a year, divided by the number of people. The unit is in international dollars, fixed 2011 prices. The data is adjusted for inflation and differences in the cost of living between countries, so-called PPP dollars. The end of the time series, between 1990 and 2016, uses the latest GDP per capita data from the World Bank, from their World Development Indicators. To go back in time before the World Bank series starts in 1990, we have used several sources, such as Angus Maddison. https://www.gapminder.org/data/documentation/gd001/

    Investments (% of GDP)

    Capital formation is a term used to describe the net capital accumulation during an accounting period for a particular country. The term refers to additions of capital goods, such as equipment, tools, transportation assets, and electricity. Countries need capital goods to replace the older ones that are used to produce goods and services. If a country cannot replace capital goods as they reach the end of their useful lives, production declines. Generally, the higher the capital formation of an economy, the faster an economy can grow its aggregate income.

    Tax revenue (% of GDP)

    refers to compulsory transfers to the central governement for public purposes. Does not include social security. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GC.TAX.TOTL.GD.ZS

    Context

    Gapminder is an independent Swedish foundation with no political, religious or economic affiliations. Gapminder is a fact tank, not a think tank. Gapminder fights devastating misconceptions about global development. Gapminder produces free teaching resources making the world understandable based on reliable statistics. Gapminder promotes a fact-based worldview everyone can understand. Gapminder collaborates with universities, UN, public agencies and non-governmental organizations. All Gapminder activities are governed by the board. We do not award grants. Gapminder Foundation is registered at Stockholm County Administration Board. Our constitution can be found here.

    Acknowledgements

    Thanks to gapminder.org for organizing the above datasets.

    Inspiration

    Below are some research questions associated with the data and some initial conclusions:

    Research Question 1 - Is Income Inequality Getting Worse or Better in the Last 10 Years?

    Answer:

    Yes, it is getting better, improving from 38.7 to 37.3

    On a continent basis, all were either declining or mostly flat, except for Africa.

    Research Question 2 - What Top 10 Countries Have the Lowest and Highest Income Inequality?

    Answer:

    Lowest: Slovenia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Norway, Slovak Republic, Denmark, Kazakhstan, Finland, Belarus,Kyrgyz Republic

    Highest: Colombia, Lesotho, Honduras, Bolivia, Central African Republic, Zambia, Suriname, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa

    Research Question 3 Is a higher tax revenue as a % of GDP associated with less income inequality?

    Answer: No

    Research Question 4 - Is Higher Income Per Person - GDP Per Capita associated with less income inequality?

    Answer: No, but weak negative correlation.

    Research Question 5 - Is Higher Investment as % GDP associated with less income inequality?

    Answer: No

    Research Question 6 - Is Higher EIU Democracy Index associated with less income inequality?

    Answer: No, but weak negative correlation.

    The above results suggest that there are other drivers for the overall reduction in income inequality. Futher analysis of additional factors should be undertaken.

    --- Original source retains full ownership of the source dataset ---

  14. w

    Measuring Income Inequality (Deininger and Squire) Database 1890-1996 -...

    • microdata.worldbank.org
    • catalog.ihsn.org
    • +1more
    Updated Oct 26, 2023
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    Klaus W. Deininger and Lyn Squire (2023). Measuring Income Inequality (Deininger and Squire) Database 1890-1996 - Argentina, Australia, Austria...and 99 more [Dataset]. https://microdata.worldbank.org/index.php/catalog/1790
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    Dataset updated
    Oct 26, 2023
    Dataset authored and provided by
    Klaus W. Deininger and Lyn Squire
    Time period covered
    1890 - 1996
    Area covered
    Australia, Austria
    Description

    Abstract

    This file contains data on Gini coefficients, cumulative quintile shares, explanations regarding the basis on which the Gini coefficient was computed, and the source of the information. There are two data-sets, one containing the "high quality" sample and the other one including all the information (of lower quality) that had been collected.

    The database was constructed for the production of the following paper:

    Deininger, Klaus and Lyn Squire, "A New Data Set Measuring Income Inequality", The World Bank Economic Review, 10(3): 565-91, 1996.

    This article presents a new data set on inequality in the distribution of income. The authors explain the criteria they applied in selecting data on Gini coefficients and on individual quintile groups’ income shares. Comparison of the new data set with existing compilations reveals that the data assembled here represent an improvement in quality and a significant expansion in coverage, although differences in the definition of the underlying data might still affect intertemporal and international comparability. Based on this new data set, the authors do not find a systematic link between growth and changes in aggregate inequality. They do find a strong positive relationship between growth and reduction of poverty.

    Geographic coverage

    In what follows, we provide brief descriptions of main features for individual countries that are included in the data-base. Without being comprehensive, these notes are intended to indicate some of the considerations underlying our decision to include or exclude certain observations.

    Argentina Various permanent household surveys, all covering urban centers only, have been regularly conducted since 1972 and are quoted in a wide variety of sources and years, e.g., for 1980 (World Bank 1992), 1985 (Altimir 1994), and 1989 (World Bank 1992). Estimates for 1963, 1965, 1969/70, 1970/71, 1974, 1975, 1980, and 1981 (Altimir 1987) are based only on Greater Buenos Aires. Estimates for 1961, 1963, 1970 (Jain 1975) and for 1970 (van Ginneken 1984) have only limited geographic coverage and do not satisfy our minimum criteria.

    Despite the many urban surveys, there are no income distribution data that are representative of the population as a whole. References to national income distribution for the years 1953, 1959, and 1961(CEPAL 1968 in Altimir 1986 ) are based on extrapolation from national accounts and have therefore not been included. Data for 1953 and 1961 from Weisskoff (1970) , from Lecaillon (1984) , and from Cromwell (1977) are also excluded.

    Australia Household surveys, the result of which is reported in the statistical yearbook, have been conducted in 1968/9, 1975/6, 1978/9, 1981, 1985, 1986, 1989, and 1990.

    Data for 1962 (Cromwell, 1977) and 1966/67 (Sawyer 1976) were excluded as they covered only tax payers. Jain's data for 1970 was excluded because it covered income recipients only. Data from Podder (1972) for 1967/68, from Jain (1975) for the same year, from UN (1985) for 78/79, from Sunders and Hobbes (1993) for 1986 and for 1989 were excluded given the availability of the primary sources. Data from Bishop (1991) for 1981/82, from Buhman (1988) for 1981/82, from Kakwani (1986) for 1975/76, and from Sunders and Hobbes (1993) for 1986 were utilized to test for the effect of different definitions. The values for 1967 used by Persson and Tabellini and Alesina and Rodrik (based on Paukert and Jain) are close to the ones reported in the Statistical Yearbook for 1969.

    Austria: In addition to data referring to the employed population (Guger 1989), national household surveys for 1987 and 1991 are included in the LIS data base. As these data do not include income from self-employment, we do not report them in our high quality data-set.

    Bahamas Data for Ginis and shares are available for 1973, 1977, 1979, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, and 1993 in government reports on population censuses and household budget surveys, and for 1973 and 1975 from UN (1981). Estimates for 1970 (Jain 1975), 1973, 1975, 1977, and 1979 (Fields 1989) have been excluded given the availability of primary sources.

    Bangladesh Data from household surveys for 1973/74, 1976/77, 1977/78, 1981/82, and 1985/86 are available from the Statistical Yearbook, complemented by household-survey based information from Chen (1995) and the World Development Report. Household surveys with rural coverage for 1959, 1960, 1963/64, 1965, 1966/67 and 1968/69, and with urban coverage for 1963/64, 1965, 1966/67, and 1968/69 are also available from the Statistical yearbook. Data for 1963/64 ,1964 and 1966/67, (Jain 1975) are not included due to limited geographic coverage, We also excluded secondary sources for 1973/74, 1976/77, 1981/82 (Fields 1989), 1977 (UN 1981), 1983 (Milanovic 1994), and 1985/86 due to availability of the primary source.

    Barbados National household surveys have been conducted in 1951/52 and 1978/79 (Downs, 1988). Estimates based on personal tax returns, reported consistently for 1951-1981 (Holder and Prescott, 1989), had to be excluded as they exclude the non-wage earning population. Jain's figure (used by Alesina and Rodrik) is based on the same source.

    Belgium Household surveys with national coverage are available for 1978/79 (UN 1985), and for 1985, 1988, and 1992 (LIS 1995). Earlier data for 1969, 1973, 1975, 1976 and 1977 (UN 1981) refer to taxable households only and are not included.

    Bolivia The only survey with national coverage is the 1990 LSMS (World Development Report). Surveys for 1986 and 1989 cover the main cities only (Psacharopoulos et al. 1992) and are therefore not included. Data for 1968 (Cromwell 1977) do not refer to a clear definition and is therefore excluded.

    Botswana The only survey with national coverage was conducted in 1985-1986 (Chen et al 1993); surveys in 74/75 and 85/86 included rural areas only (UN 1981). We excluded Gini estimates for 1971/72 that refer to the economically active population only (Jain 1975), as well as 1974/75 and 1985/86 (Valentine 1993) due to lack of national coverage or consistency in definition.

    Brazil Data from 1960, 1970, 1974/75, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987 and 1989 are available from the statistical yearbook, in addition to data for 1978 (Fields 1987) and for 1979 (Psacharopoulos et al. 1992). Other sources have been excluded as they were either not of national coverage, based on wage earners only, or because a more consistent source was available.

    Bulgaria: Data from household surveys are available for 1963-69 (in two year intervals), for 1970-90 (on an annual basis) from the Statistical yearbook and for 1991 - 93 from household surveys by the World Bank (Milanovic and Ying).

    Burkina Faso A priority survey has been undertaken in 1995.

    Central African Republic: Except for a household survey conducted in 1992, no information was available.

    Cameroon The only data are from a 1983/4 household budget survey (World Bank Poverty Assessment).

    Canada Gini- and share data for the 1950-61 (in irregular intervals), 1961-81 (biennially), and 1981-91 (annually) are available from official sources (Statistical Yearbook for years before 1971 and Income Distributions by Size in Canada for years since 1973, various issues). All other references seem to be based on these primary sources.

    Chad: An estimate for 1958 is available in the literature, and used by Alesina and Rodrik and Persson and Tabellini but was not included due to lack of primary sources.

    Chile The first nation-wide survey that included not only employment income was carried out in 1968 (UN 1981). This is complemented by household survey-based data for 1971 (Fields 1989), 1989, and 1994. Other data that refer either only to part of the population or -as in the case of a long series available from World Bank country operations- are not clearly based on primary sources, are excluded.

    China Annual household surveys from 1980 to 1992, conducted separately in rural and urban areas, were consolidated by Ying (1995), based on the statistical yearbook. Data from other secondary sources are excluded due to limited geographic and population coverage and data from Chen et al (1993) for 1985 and 1990 have not been included, to maintain consistency of sources..

    Colombia The first household survey with national coverage was conducted in 1970 (DANE 1970). In addition, there are data for 1971, 1972, 1974 CEPAL (1986), and for 1978, 1988/89, and 1991 (World Bank Poverty Assessment 1992 and Chen et al. 1995). Data referring to years before 1970 -including the 1964 estimate used in Persson and Tabellini were excluded, as were estimates for the wage earning population only.

    Costa Rica Data on Gini coefficients and quintile shares are available for 1961, 1971 (Cespedes 1973),1977 (OPNPE 1982), 1979 (Fields 1989), 1981 (Chen et al 1993), 1983 (Bourguignon and Morrison 1989), 1986 (Sauma-Fiatt 1990), and 1989 (Chen et al 1993). Gini coefficients for 1971 (Gonzalez-Vega and Cespedes in Rottenberg 1993), 1973 and 1985 (Bourguignon and Morrison 1989) cover urban areas only and were excluded.

    Cote d'Ivoire: Data based on national-level household surveys (LSMS) are available for 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1995. Information for the 1970s (Schneider 1991) is based on national accounting information and therefore excluded

    Cuba Official information on income distribution is limited. Data from secondary sources are available for 1953, 1962, 1973, and 1978, relying on personal wage income, i.e. excluding the population that is not economically active (Brundenius 1984).

    Czech Republic Household surveys for 1993 and 1994 were obtained from Milanovic and Ying. While it is in principle possible to go back further, splitting national level surveys for the former Czechoslovakia into their independent parts, we decided not to do so as the same argument could be used to

  15. F

    GINI Index for the United States

    • fred.stlouisfed.org
    json
    Updated Jun 5, 2025
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    (2025). GINI Index for the United States [Dataset]. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/SIPOVGINIUSA
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    jsonAvailable download formats
    Dataset updated
    Jun 5, 2025
    License

    https://fred.stlouisfed.org/legal/#copyright-public-domainhttps://fred.stlouisfed.org/legal/#copyright-public-domain

    Area covered
    United States
    Description

    Graph and download economic data for GINI Index for the United States (SIPOVGINIUSA) from 1963 to 2023 about gini, indexes, and USA.

  16. B

    Belarus BY: Gini Coefficient (GINI Index): World Bank Estimate

    • ceicdata.com
    Updated Mar 15, 2022
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    CEICdata.com (2022). Belarus BY: Gini Coefficient (GINI Index): World Bank Estimate [Dataset]. https://www.ceicdata.com/en/belarus/social-poverty-and-inequality/by-gini-coefficient-gini-index-world-bank-estimate
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    Dataset updated
    Mar 15, 2022
    Dataset provided by
    CEICdata.com
    License

    Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
    License information was derived automatically

    Time period covered
    Dec 1, 2009 - Dec 1, 2020
    Area covered
    Belarus
    Description

    Belarus BY: Gini Coefficient (GINI Index): World Bank Estimate data was reported at 24.400 % in 2020. This records a decrease from the previous number of 25.300 % for 2019. Belarus BY: Gini Coefficient (GINI Index): World Bank Estimate data is updated yearly, averaging 27.600 % from Dec 1998 (Median) to 2020, with 23 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 32.000 % in 1998 and a record low of 24.400 % in 2020. Belarus BY: Gini Coefficient (GINI Index): World Bank Estimate data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Belarus – Table BY.World Bank.WDI: Social: Poverty and Inequality. Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of income (or, in some cases, consumption expenditure) among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Lorenz curve plots the cumulative percentages of total income received against the cumulative number of recipients, starting with the poorest individual or household. The Gini index measures the area between the Lorenz curve and a hypothetical line of absolute equality, expressed as a percentage of the maximum area under the line. Thus a Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality.;World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are mostly from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see http://pip.worldbank.org.;;The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than 2000 household surveys across 169 countries. See the Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP) for details (www.pip.worldbank.org).

  17. i

    World Income Inequality Database , WIID

    • ingridportal.eu
    Updated May 4, 2019
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    (2019). World Income Inequality Database , WIID [Dataset]. http://doi.org/10.23728/b2share.a47b8330c9f3408a8f0d715aeb3d9618
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    Dataset updated
    May 4, 2019
    Description

    The World Income Inequality database is part of the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) and contains information on income inequality for 189 developed, developing and transition countries.

  18. f

    The Inequality Footprints of Nations: A Novel Approach to Quantitative...

    • plos.figshare.com
    tiff
    Updated Jun 1, 2023
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    The citation is currently not available for this dataset.
    Explore at:
    tiffAvailable download formats
    Dataset updated
    Jun 1, 2023
    Dataset provided by
    PLOS ONE
    Authors
    Ali Alsamawi; Joy Murray; Manfred Lenzen; Daniel Moran; Keiichiro Kanemoto
    License

    Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
    License information was derived automatically

    Description

    In this study we use economic input-output analysis to calculate the inequality footprint of nations. An inequality footprint shows the link that each country's domestic economic activity has to income distribution elsewhere in the world. To this end we use employment and household income accounts for 187 countries and an historical time series dating back to 1990. Our results show that in 2010, most developed countries had an inequality footprint that was higher than their within-country inequality, meaning that in order to support domestic lifestyles, these countries source imports from more unequal economies. Amongst exceptions are the United States and United Kingdom, which placed them on a par with many developing countries. Russia has a high within-country inequality nevertheless it has the lowest inequality footprint in the world, which is because of its trade connections with the Commonwealth of Independent States and Europe. Our findings show that the commodities that are inequality-intensive, such as electronic components, chemicals, fertilizers, minerals, and agricultural products often originate in developing countries characterized by high levels of inequality. Consumption of these commodities may implicate within-country inequality in both developing and developed countries.

  19. H

    Data from: Economic Development, Income Inequality, and Preferences for...

    • dataverse.harvard.edu
    • search.dataone.org
    Updated Jul 14, 2018
    + more versions
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    Michelle L. Dion; Vicki Birchfield (2018). Economic Development, Income Inequality, and Preferences for Redistribution [Dataset]. http://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/UENCQR
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    CroissantCroissant is a format for machine-learning datasets. Learn more about this at mlcommons.org/croissant.
    Dataset updated
    Jul 14, 2018
    Dataset provided by
    Harvard Dataverse
    Authors
    Michelle L. Dion; Vicki Birchfield
    License

    CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedicationhttps://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
    License information was derived automatically

    Description

    Adopting a cross-regional and global perspective, this article critically evaluates one of the core assertions of political economy approaches to welfare—that support for redistribution is inversely related to income. We hypothesize that economic self-interest gives way to more uniform support for redistribution in the interest of ensuring that basic or relative needs are met in less developed and highly unequal societies. To test this hypothesis, we analyze individual-level surveys combined with country-level indicators for more than 50 countries between 1984 and 2004. Our analysis shows that individual-level income does not systematically explain support for redistribution in countries with low levels of economic development or high levels of income inequality. These findings challenge the universality of the assumption of economic self-interest in shaping preferences for redistribution that has been so pervasive in the literature.

  20. o

    Data from: Inequality in Education and Income Across Countries

    • ora.ox.ac.uk
    pdf
    Updated Jan 1, 2022
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    Alali, W Y (2022). Inequality in Education and Income Across Countries [Dataset]. http://doi.org/10.5287/bodleian:zge8q7JjB
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    pdf(927199)Available download formats
    Dataset updated
    Jan 1, 2022
    Dataset provided by
    University of Oxford
    Authors
    Alali, W Y
    License

    https://ora.ox.ac.uk/terms_of_usehttps://ora.ox.ac.uk/terms_of_use

    Time period covered
    Jan 8, 2011
    Description

    This paper was created in 2011; Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between educational inequalities to income inequality across countries by using Gini Coefficient and Cobb-Douglas (CD) production function. Also, the paper reinforces the future vision of the literature on this subject by utilizing the most recent cross-section data, and we create a new combination of controls for both the labour market and socio-political. There are country-specific variables that can have an effect on each of them, and thus make it difficult to assess income inequality across countries. Considering these difficulties, the structural components of each country were controlled. Specifically, separate regressions are performed that takes into account the level of development of the country. Then we discuss how to address this matter in the literature, and also demonstrated the theoretical bases of the paper in addition to an empirical explanation model, and suggest policy recommendations in accordance with the results. This would provide governments with more direction to improve this income inequality.

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Statista (2025). Gini Index - countries with the biggest inequality in income distribution 2024 [Dataset]. https://www.statista.com/statistics/264627/ranking-of-the-20-countries-with-the-biggest-inequality-in-income-distribution/
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Gini Index - countries with the biggest inequality in income distribution 2024

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20 scholarly articles cite this dataset (View in Google Scholar)
Dataset updated
Jun 16, 2025
Dataset authored and provided by
Statistahttp://statista.com/
Area covered
Worldwide
Description

South Africa had the highest inequality in income distribution in 2024, with a Gini score of **. Its South African neighbor, Namibia, followed in second. The Gini coefficient measures the deviation of income (or consumption) distribution among individuals or households within a country from a perfectly equal distribution. A value of 0 represents absolute equality, and a value of 100 represents absolute inequality. All the 20 most unequal countries in the world were either located in Africa or Latin America & The Caribbean.

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