At the end of 2022, the Gini coefficient of wealth in India stood at 82.5. This was a slight increase from previous years. The trend since 2000 shows rising inequalities among the Indian population. What is Gini coefficient of wealth? The Gini coefficient is a measure of wealth inequality. The coefficient of the Gini index ranges from 0 to 1 with 0 representing perfect equality and 1 representing perfect inequality. Wealth and income distribution and inequality can however vary greatly. In 2023, South Africa topped the list of the most unequal countries in the world in terms of income inequality.
Why do economic inequalities persist in India? By the end of 2022, the richest citizens in the country owned more than 40 percent of the country’s wealth. Asia’s two richest men Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani are Indians. The number of high-net-worth individuals has continuously increased over the last decades. While millions of people escaped poverty in the country in the last few years, the wealth distribution between rich and poor remains skewed. Crony capitalism and the accumulation of wealth through inheritance are some of the factors behind this widening gap.

In 2021, the Gini coefficient for India stood at 32.8. The Gini coefficient, or the Gini index, measures the inequality of income distribution, whereas a higher value closer to one (or 100 percent) represent greater inequality.

In 2011, the Gini coefficient in rural India stood at 31.1, while urban India reached a higher score of 39. The Gini coefficient, or the Gini index, measures the inequality of income distribution, whereas a higher value closer to one (or 100 percent) represent greater inequality.

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).

The gini index in Russia was forecast to continuously decrease between 2024 and 2029 by in total 0.01 points. The gini is estimated to amount to 0.35 points in 2029. 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).

As of 2022, the top 10 percent Indian population group in terms of pre-tax income was estimated to hold over 57 percent of total income in India, whereas the bottom 50 percent group only made up just over 15 percent of total income. This reflected an even greater income gap compared to 2000.

BackgroundSince the implementation of various maternal health programs, Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) has significantly declined in India through improvements in maternal health services. However, inequality persists at the regional and socio-economic levels. In light of this, the present study aims to assess the existing regional disparities in utilising various government initiatives for safe motherhood in India.MethodsNational-level datasets such as National Family and Health Surveys (NFHS-3 (2005–06); NFHS-4 (2015–16) and NFHS-5(2019–21); Health Management Information System (HMIS), 2019–20; Sample Registrar System (SRS), 2001–2018) were used in the study. In addition, composite Index and inequality measures (Range, Ratio, and Gini) were calculated to examine inequality. At the same time, the Pearson correlation was used to investigate the correlation between various components of maternal health services and Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR).ResultsThe composite index score (0.65) reflects that India is still far behind the targets of the utilisation of maternal health care services. Within the utilisation of services, the Gini coefficient reveals that the least inequality was recorded in skilled birth assistance deliveries (0.03) and institutional deliveries (0.04). In contrast, the highest inequality was recorded in receiving Iron and Folic Acid (IFA) Tablets for 100 days (0.19) and four Antenatal Care (ANC) visits (0.13) among selected states. Based on the composite score for maternal health utilisation, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Delhi were amongst the best performers, whereas Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Assam were amongst the worst performers.ConclusionThis indicates that the government’s single-minded focus on enhancing institutional deliveries and skilled health-assisted deliveries has detracted from other essential interventions related to maternal health. Therefore, the states with the utilisation of maternal services need to initiate immediate action to increase the ANC and Post-natal Care (PNC utilisation with more attention towards better implementation of existing ANC programmes by the government.

In 2023, the gross domestic product (GDP) of China amounted to around 17.8 trillion U.S. dollars. In comparison to the GDP of the other BRIC countries India, Russia and Brazil, China came first that year and second in the world GDP ranking. The stagnation of China's GDP in U.S. dollar terms in 2022 and 2023 was mainly due to the appreciation of the U.S. dollar. China's real GDP growth was three percent in 2022 and 5.2 percent in 2023. In 2023, per capita GDP in China reached around 12,600 U.S. dollars. Economic performance in China Gross domestic product (GDP) is a primary economic indicator. It measures the total value of all goods and services produced in an economy over a certain time period. China's economy used to grow quickly in the past, but the growth rate of China’s real GDP gradually slowed down in recent years, and year-on-year GDP growth is forecasted to range at only around four percent in the years after 2023. Since 2010, China has been the world’s second-largest economy, surpassing Japan.China’s emergence in the world’s economy has a lot to do with its status as the ‘world’s factory’. Since 2013, China is the largest export country in the world. Some argue that it is partly due to the undervalued Chinese currency. The Big Mac Index, a simplified and informal way to measure the purchasing power parity between different currencies, indicates that the Chinese currency yuan was roughly undervalued by 31 percent in 2023. GDP development Although the impressive economic development in China has led millions of people out of poverty, China is still not in the league of industrialized countries on the per capita basis. To name one example, the U.S. per capita economic output was more than six times as large as in China in 2023. Meanwhile, the Chinese society faces increased income disparities. The Gini coefficient of China, a widely used indicator of economic inequality, has been larger than 0.45 over the last decade, whereas 0.40 is the warning level for social unrest.

In financial year 2022, the 200 leading companies listed at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in India spent over 121 billion Indian rupees as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. This was a slight increase from last year.

Wealth management

The growing amount of CSR spending reflects several trends in Indian wealth management in recent years. On the one hand, the number of high-net-worth individuals was expected to grow in the coming years, even despite the economic slowdown due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. On the other hand, the number of private philanthropists have increased in recent years. Thereby, social commitment became an important pillar in private wealth management.

Social inequality India is known for social and wealth inequalities. In the past twenty years, the wealth Gini coefficient increased by nearly ten percent points. Nevertheless, this trend slowed down between 2015 and 2022, indicating a growing awareness of social responsibility and government support.