Gap Between Rich and Poor: World Income Inequality
Updated September 9, 2022 |
Infoplease Staff
To understand how many inhabitants of a country are poor, it is not enough to know a country's per capita income. The number of poor people in a country and the average quality of life depend on how equally or unequally income is distributed across the population. A Gini index value of 0 represents absolute equality, and a value of 100 indicates absolute inequality.
| Countries with greatest inequality |
Gini index |
|
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Lesotho | 63.2 |
| 2. | South Africa | 63.1 |
| 3. | Botswana | 63.0 |
| 4. | Sierra Leone | 62.9 |
| 5. | Central African Republic | 61.3 |
| 6. | Namibia | 59.7 |
| 7. | Haiti | 59.2 |
| 8. | Colombia | 58.5 |
| 9. | Honduras | 57.7 |
| 10. | Guatemala | 55.1 |
| 11. | Hong Kong | 53.7 |
| 12. | Thailand | 53.6 |
| 13. | Paraguay | 53.2 |
| 14. | Bolivia | 53.0 |
| 15. | Chile | 52.1 |
| 16. | Panama | 51.9 |
| 17. | Brazil | 51.9 |
| 18. | Papua New Guinea | 50.9 |
| 19. | Zambia | 50.8 |
| 20. | Swaziland | 50.4 |
| 21. | Costa Rica | 50.3 |
| 22. | Gambia | 50.2 |
| 23. | Zimbabwe | 50.1 |
| 24. | Sri Lanka | 49.0 |
| 25. | Mexico | 48.3 |
| 26. | Singapore | 47.8 |
| 27. | Ecuador | 47.7 |
| 28. | Madagascar | 47.5 |
| 29. | China | 47.4 |
| 30. | Dominican Republic | 47.2 |
| Countries with greatest equality |
Gini Index |
|
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Sweden | 23.0 |
| 2. | Slovenia | 23.8 |
| 3. | Montenegro | 24.3 |
| 4. | Hungary | 24.7 |
| 5. | Denmark | 24.8 |
| 6. | Norway | 25.0 |
| 7. | Luxembourg | 26.0 |
| 8. | Slovakia | 26.0 |
| 9. | Austria | 26.3 |
| 10. | Finland | 26.8 |
| 11. | Germany | 27.0 |
| 12. | Belarus | 27.2 |
| 13. | Malta | 27.4 |
| 14. | Iceland | 28.0 |
| 15. | Belgium | 28.0 |
| 16. | Serbia | 28.2 |
| 17. | Ukraine | 28.2 |
| 18. | Kazakhstan | 28.9 |
| 19. | Cyprus | 29.0 |
| 20. | Switzerland | 29.6 |
| 21. | Ethiopia | 30.0 |
| 22. | Kosovo | 30.0 |
| 23. | Australia | 30.3 |
| 24. | Pakistan | 30.6 |
| 25. | European Union | 30.7 |
| 26. | Netherlands | 30.9 |
| 27. | Armenia | 30.9 |
| 27. | Czech Republic | 31.0 |
| 29. | Estonia | 31.3 |
| 30. | Italy | 31.9 |
Note: Table data is based on most recent date of information, which varies by country.
Source: World Development Index 2013, World Factbook.
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