In 2023, roughly 1.49 billion adults worldwide had a net worth of less than 10,000 U.S. dollars. By comparison, 58 million adults had a net worth of more than one million U.S. dollars in the same year. Wealth distribution The distribution of wealth is an indicator of economic inequality. The United Nations says that wealth includes the sum of natural, human, and physical assets. Wealth is not synonymous with income, however, because having a large income can be depleted if one has significant expenses. In 2023, nearly 1,700 billionaires had a total wealth between one to two billion U.S. dollars. Wealth worldwide China had the highest number of billionaires in 2023, with the United States following behind. That same year, New York had the most billionaires worldwide.

Graph and download economic data for Share of Net Worth Held by the Top 1% (99th to 100th Wealth Percentiles) (WFRBST01134) from Q3 1989 to Q2 2025 about net worth, wealth, percentile, Net, and USA.

In 2024, Switzerland led the ranking of countries with the highest average wealth per adult, with approximately ******* U.S. dollars per person. The United States was ranked second with an average wealth of around ******* U.S. dollars per adult, followed by Hong Kong SAR. However, the figures do not show the actual distribution of wealth. The Gini index shows wealth disparities in countries worldwide. Does wealth guarantee a longer life? As the adage goes, “money can’t buy you happiness,” yet wealth and income are continuously correlated to the quality of life of individuals in different countries around the world. While greater levels of wealth may not guarantee a higher quality of life, it certainly increases an individual’s chances of having a longer one. Although they do not show the whole picture, life expectancy at birth is higher in the wealthier world regions. Does money bring happiness? A number of the world’s happiest nations also feature in the list of those countries for which average income was highest. Finland, however, which was the happiest country worldwide in 2022, is missing from the list of the top twenty countries with the highest wealth per adult. As such, the explanation for this may be the fact that a larger proportion of the population has access to a high-income relative to global levels. Measures of quality of life Criticism of the use of income or wealth as a proxy for quality of life led to the creation of the United Nations’ Human Development Index. Although income is included within the index, it also has other factors taken into account, such as health and education. As such, the countries with the highest human development index can be correlated to those with the highest income levels. That said, none of the above measures seek to assess the physical and mental environmental impact of a high quality of life sourced through high incomes. The happy planet index demonstrates that the inclusion of experienced well-being and ecological footprint in place of income and other proxies for quality of life results in many of the world’s materially poorer nations being included in the happiest.

Graph and download economic data for Net Worth Held by the Top 0.1% (99.9th to 100th Wealth Percentiles) (WFRBLTP1246) from Q3 1989 to Q2 2025 about net worth, wealth, percentile, Net, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Minimum Wealth Cutoff for the Top 0.1% (99.9th to 100th Wealth Percentiles) (WFRBLTP1311) from Q3 1989 to Q3 2022 about wealth, percentile, and USA.

By 2030, the middle-class population in Asia-Pacific is expected to increase from **** billion people in 2015 to **** billion people. In comparison, the middle-class population of sub-Saharan Africa is expected to increase from *** million in 2015 to *** million in 2030. Worldwide wealth While the middle-class has been on the rise, there is still a huge disparity in global wealth and income. The United States had the highest number of individuals belonging to the top one percent of wealth holders, and the value of global wealth is only expected to increase over the coming years. Around ** percent of the world’s population had assets valued at less than 10,000 U.S. dollars, while less than *** percent had assets of more than one million U.S. dollars. Asia had the highest percentage of investable assets in the world in 2018, whereas Oceania had the highest percentage of non-investable assets. The middle-class The middle class is the group of people whose income falls in the middle of the scale. China accounted for over half of the global population for middle-class wealth in 2017. In the United States, the debate about the middle class “disappearing” has been a popular topic due to the increase in wealth among the top billionaires in the nation. Due to this, there have been arguments to increase taxes on the rich to help support the middle class.

About 50.4 percent of the household income of private households in the U.S. were earned by the highest quintile in 2023, which are the upper 20 percent of the workers. In contrast to that, in the same year, only 3.5 percent of the household income was earned by the lowest quintile. This relation between the quintiles is indicative of the level of income inequality in the United States. Income inequalityIncome inequality is a big topic for public discussion in the United States. About 65 percent of U.S. Americans think that the gap between the rich and the poor has gotten larger in the past ten years. This impression is backed up by U.S. census data showing that the Gini-coefficient for income distribution in the United States has been increasing constantly over the past decades for individuals and households. The Gini coefficient for individual earnings of full-time, year round workers has increased between 1990 and 2020 from 0.36 to 0.42, for example. This indicates an increase in concentration of income. In general, the Gini coefficient is calculated by looking at average income rates. A score of zero would reflect perfect income equality and a score of one indicates a society where one person would have all the money and all other people have nothing. Income distribution is also affected by region. The state of New York had the widest gap between rich and poor people in the United States, with a Gini coefficient of 0.51, as of 2019. In global comparison, South Africa led the ranking of the 20 countries with the biggest inequality in income distribution in 2018. South Africa had a score of 63 points, based on the Gini coefficient. On the other hand, the Gini coefficient stood at 16.6 in Azerbaijan, indicating that income is widely spread among the population and not concentrated on a few rich individuals or families. Slovenia led the ranking of the 20 countries with the greatest income distribution equality in 2018.

The massive wealth inequality in the world is underpinned by this chart: while *** percent of the world's population had fortunes of more than one million U.S. dollars in 2025, over ** percent of the global population had a total wealth of less than 10,000 U.S. dollars.

Graph and download economic data for Net Worth Held by the Bottom 50% (1st to 50th Wealth Percentiles) (WFRBLB50107) from Q3 1989 to Q2 2025 about net worth, wealth, percentile, Net, and USA.

Key information about Taiwan Household Income per Capita

• Taiwan Annual Household Income per Capita reached 16,605.530 USD in Dec 2023, compared with the previous value of 16,714.808 USD in Dec 2022.
• Taiwan Annual Household Income per Capita data is updated yearly, available from Dec 1984 to Dec 2023, with an averaged value of 9,995.654 USD.
• The data reached an all-time high of 17,102.731 USD in Dec 2021 and a record low of 1,969.348 USD in Dec 1984.
• In the latest reports, Retail Sales of Taiwan grew 1.668 % YoY in Feb 2022.

Ghana GH: Income Share Held by Lowest 20% data was reported at 5.400 % in 2012. This records an increase from the previous number of 5.200 % for 2005. Ghana GH: Income Share Held by Lowest 20% data is updated yearly, averaging 6.200 % from Dec 1987 (Median) to 2012, with 6 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 7.000 % in 1988 and a record low of 5.200 % in 2005. Ghana GH: Income Share Held by Lowest 20% data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Ghana – Table GH.World Bank.WDI: Poverty. Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population indicated by deciles or quintiles. Percentage shares by quintile may not sum to 100 because of rounding.; ; World Bank, Development Research Group. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.htm).; ; The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than one thousand six hundred household surveys across 164 countries in six regions and 25 other high income countries (industrialized economies). While income distribution data are published for all countries with data available, poverty data are published for low- and middle-income countries and countries eligible to receive loans from the World Bank (such as Chile) and recently graduated countries (such as Estonia) only. See PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/WhatIsNew.aspx) for definitions of geographical regions and industrialized countries.

PLEASE USE THE LATEST VERSION INSTEAD OF THIS ONE

This dataset provides a gridded subnational datasets for

• Income inequality (Gini coefficient) at admin 1 level
• Gross national income (GNI) per capita PPP at admin 1 level

The datasets are based on reported subnational admin data and spans three decades from 1990 to 2021.

The dataset is presented in details in the following publication. Please cite this paper when using data.

Chrisendo D, Niva V, Hoffman R, Sayyar SM, Rocha J, Sandström V, Solt F, Kummu M. 2024. Income inequality has increased for over two-thirds of the global population. Preprint. doi: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5548291/v1

Code is available at following repositories:

• Gini coefficient data creation: https://github.com/mattikummu/subnatGini
• GNI per capita data creation: https://github.com/mattikummu/subnatGNI
• analyses for the article: https://github.com/mattikummu/gini_gni_analyses

The following data is given (formats in brackets)

• Income inequality (Gini coefficient) at admin 0 level (national) (GeoTIFF, gpkg, csv)
• Income inequality (Gini coefficient) at admin 1 level (subnational) (GeoTIFF, gpkg, csv)
• Gross national income (GNI) per capita PPP at admin 0 level (national) (GeoTIFF, gpkg, csv)
• Gross national income (GNI) per capita PPP at admin 1 level (subnational) (GeoTIFF, gpkg, csv)
• Slope for Gini coefficient at admin 1 level (GeoTIFF; slope is given also in gpk and csv files)
• Slope for GNI per capita at admin 1 level (GeoTIFF; slope is given also in gpk and csv files)
• Input data for the script that was used to generate the Gini coefficient (input_data_gini.zip)
• Input data for the script that was used to generate the GNI per capita PPP (input_data_GNI.zip)

Files are named as follows
Format: raster data (GeoTIFF) starts with rast_*, polygon data (gpkg) with polyg_*, and tabulated with tabulated_*.
Admin levels: adm0 for admin 0 level, adm1 for admin 1 level
Product type:

• _gini_disp_ for gini coefficient based on disposable income
• _gni_perCapita_ for GNI per capita PPP

Metadata

Grids

Resolution: 5 arc-min (0.083333333 degrees)

Spatial extent: Lon: -180, 180; -90, 90 (xmin, xmax, ymin, ymax)

Coordinate ref system: EPSG:4326 - WGS 84

Format: Multiband geotiff; one band for each year over 1990-2021

Unit: no unit for Gini coefficient and PPP USD in 2017 international dollars for GNI per capita

Geospatial polygon (gpkg) files:

Spatial extent: -180, 180; -90, 83.67 (xmin, xmax, ymin, ymax)

Temporal extent: annual over 1990-2021

Coordinate ref system: EPSG:4326 - WGS 84

Format: gkpk

Unit: no unit for Gini coefficient and PPP USD in 2017 international dollars for GNI per capita

Ireland IE: Income Share Held by Highest 20% data was reported at 40.200 % in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 40.100 % for 2014. Ireland IE: Income Share Held by Highest 20% data is updated yearly, averaging 40.700 % from Dec 2003 (Median) to 2015, with 13 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 41.800 % in 2005 and a record low of 39.300 % in 2008. Ireland IE: Income Share Held by Highest 20% data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Ireland – Table IE.World Bank.WDI: Poverty. Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population indicated by deciles or quintiles. Percentage shares by quintile may not sum to 100 because of rounding.; ; World Bank, Development Research Group. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.htm).; ; The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than one thousand six hundred household surveys across 164 countries in six regions and 25 other high income countries (industrialized economies). While income distribution data are published for all countries with data available, poverty data are published for low- and middle-income countries and countries eligible to receive loans from the World Bank (such as Chile) and recently graduated countries (such as Estonia) only. See PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/WhatIsNew.aspx) for definitions of geographical regions and industrialized countries.

Italy AAHI: Number of Income Earner: One data was reported at 18,257.000 EUR in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 17,637.000 EUR for 2015. Italy AAHI: Number of Income Earner: One data is updated yearly, averaging 17,367.500 EUR from Dec 2003 (Median) to 2016, with 14 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 18,257.000 EUR in 2016 and a record low of 14,431.000 EUR in 2003. Italy AAHI: Number of Income Earner: One data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Institute of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Italy – Table IT.H014: Average Annual Household Income.

Japan JP: Income Share Held by Highest 10% data was reported at 24.700 % in 2008. Japan JP: Income Share Held by Highest 10% data is updated yearly, averaging 24.700 % from Dec 2008 (Median) to 2008, with 1 observations. Japan JP: Income Share Held by Highest 10% data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Japan – Table JP.World Bank.WDI: Poverty. Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population indicated by deciles or quintiles.; ; World Bank, Development Research Group. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.htm).; ; The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than one thousand six hundred household surveys across 164 countries in six regions and 25 other high income countries (industrialized economies). While income distribution data are published for all countries with data available, poverty data are published for low- and middle-income countries and countries eligible to receive loans from the World Bank (such as Chile) and recently graduated countries (such as Estonia) only. See PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/WhatIsNew.aspx) for definitions of geographical regions and industrialized countries.

Japan JP: Income Share Held by Highest 20% data was reported at 39.700 % in 2008. Japan JP: Income Share Held by Highest 20% data is updated yearly, averaging 39.700 % from Dec 2008 (Median) to 2008, with 1 observations. Japan JP: Income Share Held by Highest 20% data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Japan – Table JP.World Bank.WDI: Poverty. Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population indicated by deciles or quintiles. Percentage shares by quintile may not sum to 100 because of rounding.; ; World Bank, Development Research Group. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.htm).; ; The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than one thousand six hundred household surveys across 164 countries in six regions and 25 other high income countries (industrialized economies). While income distribution data are published for all countries with data available, poverty data are published for low- and middle-income countries and countries eligible to receive loans from the World Bank (such as Chile) and recently graduated countries (such as Estonia) only. See PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/WhatIsNew.aspx) for definitions of geographical regions and industrialized countries.

Total external debt is debt owed to non residents repayable in foreign currency, goods, or services. Total external debt is the sum of public, publicly guaranteed, and private non-guaranteed long-term debt, use of IMF credit, and short-term debt. Short-term debt includes all debt having an original maturity of one year or less and interest in arrears on long-term debt. Data are in million current U.S. dollars. This Data set uses 0 = no value, however the original data source uses -9999 as its original value. Data was found online at http://geodata.grid.unep.ch

The poly shapefile has for the statistics of the 2006 individual tax returns at county level for the lower 48 states. The stats show the number of tax returns, the number of refunds, number of Electronic and Paper tax returns, Total Avg. Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) etc. Look for part 2 and part 3 of the stats file elsewhere on the Finder!

Ghana GH: Income Share Held by Highest 10% data was reported at 31.700 % in 2012. This records a decrease from the previous number of 32.700 % for 2005. Ghana GH: Income Share Held by Highest 10% data is updated yearly, averaging 29.850 % from Dec 1987 (Median) to 2012, with 6 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 32.700 % in 2005 and a record low of 27.300 % in 1987. Ghana GH: Income Share Held by Highest 10% data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Ghana – Table GH.World Bank.WDI: Poverty. Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population indicated by deciles or quintiles.; ; World Bank, Development Research Group. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.htm).; ; The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than one thousand six hundred household surveys across 164 countries in six regions and 25 other high income countries (industrialized economies). While income distribution data are published for all countries with data available, poverty data are published for low- and middle-income countries and countries eligible to receive loans from the World Bank (such as Chile) and recently graduated countries (such as Estonia) only. See PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/WhatIsNew.aspx) for definitions of geographical regions and industrialized countries.

Table 1. Number of SSI recipients, by state or other area, eligibility category, age, and receipt of OASDI benefits, December 2007 The SSI program is a cash assistance program that provides monthly benefits to low-income aged, blind, or disabled persons in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Northern Mariana Islands. The states and other jurisdictions have the option of supplementing their residents' SSI payments and may choose to have the additional payments administered by the federal government. When a state chooses federal administration, SSA maintains the payment records and issues the federal payment and the state supplement in one check. The data presented in this document are for federal and federally administered state payments only. State-administered supplementation payments are not included. The tables present SSI data by eligibility category (aged, blind, and disabled) and age. State data on the number of recipients and amount of payments are shown in Tables 1 and 2, respectively. SSI recipients who also receive Social Security (Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) benefits are shown in Table 1 and also in Table 3, which presents data at the county level.