In 2024, the United Kingdom's Gini coefficient score was 34.1, an increase when compared with the previous year. The Gini coefficient is a measurement of inequality within economies, a lower score indicates more equality while a higher score implies more inequality.

Historical dataset showing U.K. income inequality - gini coefficient by year from N/A to N/A.

In 20234 Bulgaria had the highest Gini Index score in the European Union at 38.4, implying that the country had the highest level of inequality among European countries. The Gini Index is a measure of inequality within economies, a lower score indicates more equality, and a higher score less equality. Slovakia had the lowest score among EU countries for 2024 with a score of 21.7, suggesting that it is the most egalitarian society in Europe.

Of the countries included, South Africa had the highest income inequality, with a Gini coefficient of 0.62. It was also the country with the highest inequality level worldwide. Of the OECD members, Costa Rica had the highest income inequality, whereas Slovakia had the lowest.

Euro Area - Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income was 29.90% in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Euro Area - Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income - last updated from the EUROSTAT on October of 2025. Historically, Euro Area - Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income reached a record high of 31.00% in December of 2014 and a record low of 29.80% in December of 2023.

In 2023, according to the Gini coefficient, household income distribution in the United States was 0.47. This figure was at 0.43 in 1990, which indicates an increase in income inequality in the U.S. over the past 30 years. What is the Gini coefficient? The Gini coefficient, or Gini index, is a statistical measure of economic inequality and wealth distribution among a population. A value of zero represents perfect economic equality, and a value of one represents perfect economic inequality. The Gini coefficient helps to visualize income inequality in a more digestible way. For example, according to the Gini coefficient, the District of Columbia and the state of New York have the greatest amount of income inequality in the U.S. with a score of 0.51, and Utah has the greatest income equality with a score of 0.43. The Gini coefficient around the world The Gini coefficient is also an effective measure to help picture income inequality around the world. For example, in 2018 income inequality was highest in South Africa, while income inequality was lowest in Slovenia.

This data file includes the Gini coefficient calculated for different wealth welfare aggregates constructed for all Luxembourg Wealth Study (LWS) datasets in all waves (as of March 2022). It includes Gini coefficients calculated on: • Disposable Net Worth • Value of Principal residence • Financial Assets

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.

Multidimensional Poverty Headcount Ratio: UNDP: % of total population data was reported at 3.800 % in 2015. Multidimensional Poverty Headcount Ratio: UNDP: % of total population data is updated yearly, averaging 3.800 % from Dec 2015 (Median) to 2015, with 1 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3.800 % in 2015 and a record low of 3.800 % in 2015. Multidimensional Poverty Headcount Ratio: UNDP: % of total population 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. The multidimensional poverty headcount ratio (UNDP) is the percentage of a population living in poverty according to UNDPs multidimensional poverty index. The index includes three dimensions -- health, education, and living standards.;Alkire, S., Kanagaratnam, U., and Suppa, N. (2023). ‘The global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2023 country results and methodological note’, OPHI MPI Methodological Note 55, Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), University of Oxford. (https://ophi.org.uk/mpi-methodological-note-55-2/);;

Großbritannien weist im Jahr 2021 einen Gini-Index von 32,4 Punkten auf. Der Durchschnitt in der Europäischen Union (EU) beträgt rund 29,6 Punkte. Diese Statistik zeigt die Entwicklung der Einkommensungleichheit in Großbritannien im Zeitraum 1968 bis 2021 anhand des Gini-Index. Was ist der Gini-Index? Der Gini-Index oder Gini-Koeffizient ist ein statistisches Maß, das zur Darstellung von Ungleichverteilungen verwendet wird. Er kann einen beliebigen Wert zwischen 0 und 100 Punkten annehmen. Der Gini-Index zeigt die Abweichung der Verteilung des verfügbaren Einkommens auf Personen oder Haushalte innerhalb eines Landes von einer vollkommen gleichen Verteilung. Ein Wert von 0 bedeutet absolute Gleichheit, ein Wert von 100 absolute Ungleichheit.

At the turn of the twentieth century, the wealthiest one percent of people in the United Kingdom controlled 71 percent of net personal wealth, while the top ten percent controlled 93 percent. The share of wealth controlled by the rich in the United Kingdom fell throughout the twentieth century, and by 1990 the richest one percent controlled 16 percent of wealth, and the richest ten percent just over half of it.

Many of Europe's largest economies have seen falling shares of their national wealth taken by the bottom 50 percent of the wealth distribution since the 1990s. Italy in particular stands out as a particularly stark case, as the bottom half owned around 10 percent of the wealth in the country in 1995, while in 2023 they owned only 2.5 percent. Russia is the other country which has seen a consistent decline in the wealth of its poorest 50 percent, with the economic crises of the 1990s causing the poor to rapidly lose their share of wealth, but without any recovery during the years of economic success in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis. Germany, France, Spain, and the United Kingdom have seen more moderate decreases in the bottom 50 percent share, with Spain and the UK in fact showing increases in their shares during the early 2000s, as their respective housing booms inflated the wealth of the poorest, before retracting during the financial crisis and great recession. Turkey stands out as an outlier among the large European economies, as the share taken by its bottom half has more than tripled since the 1990s, now having a higher share than in Russia and Italy. This period in Turkey has been marked by rapid economic growth, modernization, and urbanization, some of which has benefitted the poorest by providing new economic opportunities.

The number of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) in Europe has grown steadily over the past decade. This trend reflects broader wealth accumulation patterns across the continent, with the richest segments of society gaining an increasingly larger share of total wealth. Despite this concentration at the top, recent years have seen some positive signs in terms of overall income inequality reduction in Europe. Wealth concentration at the top From 1995 to 2021, the wealthiest one percent in Europe increased their share of wealth from 22 percent to over 26 percent. During this same period, the bottom 90 percent saw their collective share shrink. This concentration of wealth at the top aligns with the growth in HNWIs observed in countries in Europe. The top 10 percent of wealthy Europeans now own more than the remaining 90 percent combined, highlighting the significant wealth disparity that persists despite the overall increase in HNWIs.

Signs of improving income equality While wealth concentration has increased, there are indications that income inequality in the European Union has been improving in recent years. The Gini coefficient, a measure of income inequality, has been declining in both the EU and Eurozone since 2014, reaching new lows of 29.6 and 29.8 respectively in 2023. Additionally, the income ratio between the top 20 percent and bottom 20 percent of earners in the EU has fallen from 5.22 in 2015 to 4.74 in 2022. These trends suggest that despite the growth in HNWIs, efforts to address income disparities may be having some positive effects across the broader population.

The rising share of national income taken by the top one percent of earners is a common thread amongst almost all European countries over the past half century. As economic globalization took hold throughout the 1980s and 1990s, European countries experienced de-industrialization due to the emergence of international competitors, mostly in East Asia. At the same time, information technology and finance became much more important for most European economies, while growth in these sectors tends to favor high earners. This rise in inequality is also often also attributed to the ascendence of 'neoliberal' economic and political ideas which prioritized free markets and the privatization of government-owned businesses. Russia: the explosion of inequality after the fall of communismAmong the largest European economies, the Russian Federation stands out as the country which experienced the sharpest increase in inequality, as a small number of 'oligarchs' took control of the major industries after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of communist rule in 1991. The top one percent in Russia increased their share of national income five-fold over the 20 years from 1987 to 2007, when inequality in the country reached its peak as the oligarchs took home over a quarter of the country's income. Turkey: falling share of national income taken by top earnersTurkey has bucked the trend of the rising income share for the richest over this period, as its extremely concentrated income distribution has in fact become somewhat more equitable. The highest earners in Turkey saw their share of national income drop from almost 28 percent in the early 1980s, to a low of 17 percent in 2007, after which it has stabilized between 19 and 21 percent. Western Europe: gradually rising share of national income for the richThe five western European democracies, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom, have all seen increases in their top earners' shares of national income over this period. The United Kingdom, Italy, and Germany have in particular seen their shares increase sharply, while Spain and France have experienced a more gradual increase.

One of the key ways in which disadvantage is transmitted from one generation to another is through missed educational opportunities. Immigrant students in Europe often fall behind the children of native-born parents, whether this is because of language difficulties, more difficult living situations at home, or through the lack of durable social networks in the country where they recieve their education. As of 2018, Finland was the country in Europe where immigrant children had the greatest difference in mean reading scores when compared with non-immigrant children, after accounting for gender and the students' and schools' socio-economic profile. This means that an equivalent immigrant child will achieve a mean reading score 74 points below that of a non-immigrant child. Several countries in Europe perform far better in this indicator, however, with the United Kingdom, Russia, France, and Germany - all countries with large immigrant populations - having differences of less than 20 points. Cyprus and Serbia were the only two countries in Europe in 2018 which showed the reverse trend: in these countries immigrants performed better than non-immigrant students by several points.