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Differences in national income equality around the world as measured by the national Gini coefficient.

This is a list of countries or dependencies by income inequality metrics, including Gini coefficients, according to the United Nations (UN), the World Bank, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the OECD. Note that because the underlying household surveys differ in method and in the type of data collected, the distribution data are not strictly comparable across countries. The Gini coefficient is a number between 0 and 1, where 0 corresponds with perfect equality (where everyone has the same income) and 1 corresponds with perfect inequality (where one person has all the income — and everyone else has zero income). Income distribution can vary greatly from wealth distribution in a country. See: List of countries by distribution of wealth. Income from Black Market economic activity is not included and is the subject of current economic research.^[1][2]

List[link]

Note: The table is sortable in various ways. Click the sort button cell at the top of the column you wish to sort. Click again to reverse the order of sorting. Reload the page to reset everything to its original format.

Key:
R/P 10%: The ratio of the average income of the richest 10% to the poorest 10%
R/P 20%: The ratio of average income of the richest 20% to the poorest 20%
Gini: Gini index, a quantified representation of a nation's Lorenz curve

UN: Data from the United Nations Development Programme.
CIA: Data from the Central Intelligence Agency's The World Factbook.
GPI: Data from the Global Peace Index.

Gini coefficient beside GDP per capita

Country	UN R/P 10%[3]	UN R/P 20%[4]	World Bank Gini (%)[5]	WB Gini (year)	CIA R/P 10%[6]	Year	CIA Gini (%)[7]	CIA Gini (year)	GPI Gini (%)[8]
Afghanistan			29	2008			29.4	2008	60.0
Albania	7.2	4.8	35	2008	7.2	2004	34.5	2008
Algeria	9.6	6.1	35	1995	9.6	1995	35.3	1995
Angola			59	2000					62.0
Argentina	31.6	17.8	46	2009	35.0	2007 Jan.-Mar.	45.8	2009
Armenia	8.0	5.0	31	2008	25.8	2004	30.9	2008
Australia	12.5	7.0	35	1994	12.7	1994	30.5	2006
Austria	6.9	4.4	29	2000	6.8	2004	26.0	2007
Azerbaijan	9.7	6.0	34	2008	9.5	2001	33.7	2008
Bahrain									36.0
Bangladesh	7.5	4.9	31	2005	7.5	2000 est.	33.2	2005
Belarus	6.9	4.5	27	2008	6.9	2002	27.2	2008
Belgium	8.2	4.9	33	2000	8.3	2000	28.0	2005
Belize			54	1999					49.2
Benin	9.4	6.0	39	2003	9.4	2003	36.5	2003
Bhutan			47	2003					32
Bolivia	93.9	42.3	57	2007	157.3	2002	58.2	2009
Bosnia and Herzegovina	5.4	3.8	36	2007	5.5	2001	36.2	2007
	UN R/P 10%	UN R/P 20%	World Bank Gini (%)	WB Gini (year)	CIA R/P 10%	Year	CIA Gini (%)	CIA Gini (year)	GPI Gini (%)
Botswana	43.0	20.4	61	1994			63	1993
Brazil	11.0	12.0	54	2009	37.1	2007	51.9	2012
Bulgaria	7.0	4.4	28.2	2007	8.8	2005	45.3	2007
Burkina Faso	11.6	6.9	40	2003	11.5	2003	39.5	2007
Burundi	19.3	9.5	33	2006	19.3	1998	42.4	1998
Cambodia	12.2	7.3	44	2007	12.0	2004	44.4	2007 est.
Cameroon	15.7	9.1	39	2007	15.4	2001	44.6	2001
Canada	9.4	5.5	33	2000	9.5	2000	32.1	2005
Cape Verde			51	2002
Central African Republic	69.2	32.7	56	2008	68.1	1993	61.3	1993
Chad			40	2003					52.3
Chile	26.2	15.7	52	2009	32.1	2003	52.1	2009
China, People's Republic of	21.6	12.2	42	2005	21.8	2004	41.5	2007	46.9[9]
Colombia	60.4	25.3	56	2010	56.3	2008	56.0	2010
Comoros			64	2004
Democratic Republic of the Congo			44	2006					55
Congo			47	2005					56.2
Costa Rica	23.4	15.6	50	2009	37.4	2003	50.3	2009
Côte d'Ivoire	16.6	9.7	42	2008	17.0	2002	41.5	2008
Croatia	7.3	4.8	34	2008	7.2	2003 est.	33.7	2008
	UN R/P 10%	UN R/P 20%	World Bank Gini (%)	WB Gini (year)	CIA R/P 10%	Year	CIA Gini (%)	CIA Gini (year)	GPI Gini (%)
Cuba									30.0
Cyprus							29.0	2005
Czech Republic	5.2	3.5	26	1996	5.2	1996	26.0	2005
Denmark	8.1	4.3	25	1997	12.0	2000 est.	29.0	2007
Djibouti			40	2002
Dominican Republic	25.3	14.3	48	2007	29.4	2005	48.4	2007
Ecuador	35.2	17.3	49	2009	17.5	2006 Oct.[10]	46.9	2010 Jun.
Egypt	8.0	5.1	32	2005	8.0	2000	34.4	2001
El Salvador	38.6	20.9	47	2008	55.4	2002	46.9	2007
Equatorial Guinea									65
Estonia	10.8	6.4	36	2004	11.0	2003	31.4	2009
Ethiopia	6.6	4.3	30	2005	6.5	2000	30.0	2000
European Union							30.4	2009 est.
Finland	5.6	3.8	27	2000	5.7	2000	26.8	2008
France	9.1	5.6	33	1995	8.3	2004	32.7	2008
Gabon			41	2005					60
The Gambia	20.2	11.2	47	2003	20.6	1998	50.2	1998
Georgia	15.4	8.3	41	2008	15.2	2003	40.8	2009
Germany	6.9	4.3	28	2000	6.9	2000	27.0	2006
Ghana	14.1	8.4	43	2006	13.7	1999	39.4	2005–2006
	UN R/P 10%	UN R/P 20%	World Bank Gini (%)	WB Gini (year)	CIA R/P 10%	Year	CIA Gini (%)	CIA Gini (year)	GPI Gini (%)
Greece	10.2	6.2	34	2000	10.4	2000 est.	33.0	2005
Guatemala	33.9	20.3	54	2006	48.2	2002	55.1	2007
Guinea	10.5	6.6	39	2007	21.6	2006	39.4	2007
Guinea-Bissau	19.0	10.3	36	2002	84.8	1991
Guyana			45	1998	26.0	1999	43.2	1999
Haiti	54.4	26.6	60	2001	68.1	2001	59.2	2001
Honduras	59.4	17.2	58	2007	35.2	2003	57.7	2007
Hong Kong	17.8	9.7	43	1996			53.3	2007
Hungary	5.5	3.8	31	2007	5.6	2002	24.7	2009
Iceland							28.0	2006
India	8.6	5.6	37	2005	8.6	2004	36.8	2004
Indonesia	7.8	5.2	37	2008	7.9	2002	36.8	2009
Iran	17.2	9.7	38	2005	16.9	1998	44.5	2006	38.3[11]
Iraq			31	2007					42
Ireland	9.4	5.6	34	2000	9.4	2000	29.3	2009
Israel	13.4	7.9	39	2001	11.8	2005	39.2	2008
Italy	11.6	6.5	36	2000	11.7	2000	32.0	2006
Jamaica	17.3	9.8	46	2004	17.0	2004	45.5	2004
	UN R/P 10%	UN R/P 20%	World Bank Gini (%)	WB Gini (year)	CIA R/P 10%	Year	CIA Gini (%)	CIA Gini (year)	GPI Gini (%)
Japan	4.5	3.4	25	1993	4.5	1993	37.6	2008
Jordan	11.3	6.9	38	2006	11.3	2003	39.7	2007
Kazakhstan	8.5	5.6	31	2007	8.0	2004 est.	26.7	2009
Kenya	13.6	8.2	48	2005	18.6	2000	42.5	2008 est.
North Korea									31.0
South Korea	7.8	4.7	32	1998	8.6	2005 est.	31.4	2009
Kuwait									30
Kyrgyzstan	6.4	4.4	33	2007	6.4	2003	33.4	2007
Laos	8.3	5.4	37	2008	8.4	2002	36.7	2008
Latvia	11.6	6.8	36	2004	11.6	2003	35.7	2008
Lebanon									45
Lesotho	10.5	44.2	53	2003	48.2	2002 est.	63.2	1995
Liberia	12.8		38	2007			38.2	2007
Libya									36.0
Lithuania	10.4	6.3	38	2008	10.3	2003	37.6	2008
Luxembourg			31	2000	6.8	2000	26.0	2005
Macedonia	12.5	7.5	44	2008	12.3	2003	44.2	2008
Madagascar	19.2	11.0	47	2005	19.3	2001	47.5	2001
	UN R/P 10%	UN R/P 20%	World Bank Gini (%)	WB Gini (year)	CIA R/P 10%	Year	CIA Gini (%)	CIA Gini (year)	GPI Gini (%)
Malawi	10.9	6.7	39	2004	11.0	2004	39.0	2004
Malaysia	22.1	12.4	46	2009	28.0	2003 est.	46.2	2009
Maldives			37	2004
Mali	12.5	7.6	39	2006	12.6	2001	40.1	2001
Malta							26.0	2007
Mauritania	12.0	7.4	39	2000	11.8	2000	39.0	2000
Mauritius							39.0	2006 est.
Mexico	21.6	12.8	52	2008	24.6	2004	51.7	2008
Moldova	8.2	5.3	38	2008	8.3	2003	38.0	2008
Mongolia	8.2	5.4	33	2005	8.2	2002	36.5	2008
Montenegro			30	2008			30.0	2008
Morocco	11.7	7.2	41	2007	11.9	1999	40.9	2007 est.
Mozambique	18.8	9.9	46	2008	18.8	2002	45.6	2008
Myanmar					11.6	1998			40
Namibia	12.8	56.1	74	1993	129.0	2003	70.7	2003
Nepal	15.8	9.1	47	2004	15.6	2004	47.2	2008
Netherlands	9.2	5.1	31	1999	9.2	1999	30.9	2007
New Zealand	12.4	6.8	36	1997			36.2	1997
Nicaragua	31.0	8.8	52	2005	15.4	2001	43.1	2001
	UN R/P 10%	UN R/P 20%	World Bank Gini (%)	WB Gini (year)	CIA R/P 10%	Year	CIA Gini (%)	CIA Gini (year)	GPI Gini (%)
Niger	46.0	20.7	34	2007	44.3	1995	34.0	2007
Nigeria	17.8	9.7	43	2004	17.5	2003	43.7	2003
Norway	6.1	3.9	26	2000	6.0	2000	25.0	2008
Oman									32
Pakistan	6.5	4.3	33	2006	6.6	2002	30.6	2007–2008
Panama	49.9	23.9	52	2009	61.4	2003	51	2010 est.
Papua New Guinea	23.8	12.6	51	1996	23.8	1996	50.9	1996
Paraguay	38.8	25.7	52	2008	65.9	2003	53.2	2009
Peru	26.1	15.2	48	2009	31.5	2003	48.0	2009
Philippines	15.5	9.3	44	2006	15.5	2003	45.8	2006
Poland	8.8	5.6	34	2008	8.7	2002	34.2	2008
Portugal	15.0	8.0	38	1997	9.2	1995 est.	38.5	2007
Qatar			41	2007			41.1	2007	39
Romania	7.5	4.9	31	2008	7.4	2003	31.2	2008
Russia	12.7	7.6	42	2008	12.8	2002	42.2	2009
Rwanda	18.6	9.9	53	2005	18.2	2000	46.8	2000
Sao Tome and Principe			51	2001
Saudi Arabia									32.0
Senegal	12.3	7.4	39	2005	12.4	2001	41.3	2001
	UN R/P 10%	UN R/P 20%	World Bank Gini (%)	WB Gini (year)	CIA R/P 10%	Year	CIA Gini (%)	CIA Gini (year)	GPI Gini (%)
Serbia			28	2008			28.2	2008
22x20px Seychelles			66	2007			65.8	2007
Sierra Leone	87.2	57.6	43	2003	87.2	1989	62.9	1989
Singapore	17.7	9.7	42	1998	17.3	1998	47.8	2009
Slovakia	6.7	4.0	26	1996	6.7	1996	26.0	2005
Slovenia	5.9	3.9	31	2004	5.9	1998	28.4	2008
Somalia									30
South Africa	33.1	17.9	67	2006	31.9	2000	65.0	2005
Spain	10.3	6.0	35	2000	10.2	2000	32.0	2005
Sri Lanka	11.1	6.9	40	2007	36.1	2003/04 fiscal year	40.3	2007
St. Lucia			43	1995
Sudan									51
Suriname			53	1999
Swaziland	25.1	13.0	51	2001	25.4	2001	50.4	2001
Sweden	6.2	4.0	25	2000	6.2	2000	23.0	2005
Switzerland	9.0	5.5	34	2000	8.9	2000	33.7	2008
Syria			36	2004					42.0
Taiwan (Republic of China)					6.1	2002 est.	32.6	2000[12]
Tajikistan	7.8	5.2	34	2004	7.8	2003	32.6	2006
Tanzania	9.2	5.8	38	2007	9.3	2000	37.6	2007
Thailand	12.6	7.7	42	2004	12.4	2002	53.6	2009
	UN R/P 10%	UN R/P 20%	World Bank Gini (%)	WB Gini (year)	CIA R/P 10%	Year	CIA Gini (%)	CIA Gini (year)	GPI Gini (%)
Timor-Leste			32	2007			31.9	2007 est.
Togo			34	2006
Trinidad and Tobago	12.9	7.6	40	1992
Tunisia	13.4	7.9	41	2000	13.7	2000	40.0	2005 est.
Turkey	6.6	4.6	43	2005	17.1	2003	39.7	2008
Turkmenistan	12.3	7.7	41	1998	12.2	1998	40.8	1998
Uganda	16.6	9.2	44	2009	16.4	2002	44.3	2009
Ukraine	5.9	4.1	28	2008	7.6	2006	27.5	2008
United Arab Emirates									31
United Kingdom	13.8	7.2	36	1998	13.6	1999	34.0	2005
United States	15.9	8.4	41	2000	15.0	2007 est.	45.0	2007
Uruguay	20.1	10.2	42	2009	17.9	2003	42.4	2009
Uzbekistan	10.6	6.2	37	2003	10.6	2003	36.8	2003
Venezuela	18.8	16.0	44	2006	50.3	2003	41.0	2009
Vietnam	6.9	4.9	38	2008	10.0	2004	37.6	2008
Yemen	8.6	5.6	38	2005	8.6	2003	37.7	2005
Zambia			51	2004			50.8	2005
Zimbabwe			50	1995			50.1	2006
World					12.0	2002 est.

OECD countries[link]

Gini coefficient, before taxes and transfers[link]

Gini coefficient, before taxes and transfers^[13]

Country	mid-70s	mid-80s	around 1990	mid-90s	around 2000	mid-2000s	Late 2000s
Australia				0.467	0.476	0.465	0.468
Austria						0.433	0.472
Belgium		0.449		0.472	0.464	0.494	0.469
Canada	0.385	0.395	0.403	0.430	0.440	0.436	0.441
Chile				0.541		0.511	0.526
Czech Republic				0.442	0.472	0.474	0.444
Denmark		0.373	0.396	0.417	0.415	0.417	0.416
Estonia						0.504	0.458
Finland	0.343	0.387		0.479	0.478	0.483	0.465
France		0.380	0.370	0.473	0.490	0.485	0.483
Germany		0.439	0.429	0.459	0.471	0.499	0.504
Greece	0.448	0.426		0.446	0.466	0.454	0.436
Hungary			0.452	0.496	0.463	0.497	0.466
Iceland						0.365	0.382
Ireland
Israel		0.472	0.476	0.494	0.504	0.513	0.498
Italy		0.420	0.437	0.508	0.516	0.557	0.534
Japan		0.345		0.403	0.432	0.443	0.462
South Korea						0.331	0.344
Luxembourg		0.383		0.427	0.421	0.454	0.482
Mexico		0.453		0.532	0.517	0.491	0.494
Netherlands	0.426	0.473	0.474	0.484	0.424	0.426	0.426
New Zealand		0.408	0.468	0.488	0.484	0.473	0.455
Norway		0.351		0.404	0.426	0.447	0.410
Poland						0.542	0.470
Portugal	0.457		0.436	0.490	0.479	0.542	0.521
Slovak Republic						0.458	0.416
Slovenia						0.452	0.423
Spain							0.461
Sweden	0.389	0.404	0.408	0.438	0.446	0.432	0.426
Switzerland							0.409
Turkey							0.470
United Kingdom	0.338	0.419	0.439	0.453	0.458	0.445	0.456
United States	0.406	0.436	0.450	0.477	0.476	0.486	0.486

Gini coefficient, after taxes and transfers[link]

Gini coefficient, after taxes and transfers^[13]

Country	mid-70s	mid-80s	around 1990	mid-90s	around 2000	mid-2000s	Late 2000s
Australia				0.309	0.317	0.315	0.336
Austria		0.236		0.238	0.252	0.265	0.261
Belgium		0.274		0.287	0.289	0.271	0.259
Canada	0.304	0.293	0.287	0.289	0.318	0.317	0.324
Chile				0.527		0.503	0.494
Czech Republic			0.232	0.257	0.260	0.268	0.256
Denmark		0.221	0.226	0.215	0.226	0.232	0.248
Estonia						0.349	0.315
Finland	0.235	0.209		0.218	0.247	0.254	0.259
France		0.300	0.290	0.277	0.287	0.288	0.293
Germany		0.251	0.256	0.266	0.264	0.285	0.295
Greece	0.413	0.336		0.336	0.345	0.321	0.307
Hungary			0.273	0.294	0.293	0.291	0.272
Iceland						0.257	0.301
Ireland		0.331		0.324	0.304	0.314	0.293
Israel		0.326	0.329	0.338	0.347	0.378	0.371
Italy		0.309	0.297	0.348	0.343	0.352	0.337
Japan		0.304		0.323	0.337	0.321	0.329
South Korea						0.306	0.315
Luxembourg		0.247		0.259	0.261	0.258	0.288
Mexico		0.452		0.519	0.507	0.474	0.476
Netherlands	0.263	0.272	0.292	0.297	0.292	0.284	0.294
New Zealand		0.271	0.318	0.335	0.339	0.335	0.330
Norway		0.222		0.243	0.261	0.276	0.250
Poland					0.316	0.349	0.305
Portugal	0.354		0.329	0.359	0.356	0.385	0.353
Slovak Republic						0.268	0.257
Slovenia						0.246	0.236
Spain		0.371	0.337	0.343	0.342	0.319	0.317
Sweden	0.212	0.198	0.209	0.211	0.243	0.234	0.259
Switzerland					0.279	0.276	0.303
Turkey		0.434		0.490		0.430	0.409
United Kingdom	0.268	0.309	0.354	0.336	0.351	0.331	0.345
United States	0.316	0.337	0.348	0.361	0.357	0.380	0.378

See also[link]

• List of countries by distribution of wealth
• List of countries by inequality-adjusted HDI
• Income inequality metrics

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• "An Overview of Growing Income Inequalities in OECD Countries: Main Findings", Divided We Stand: Why Inequality Keeps Growing, OECD Publishing, December 2011, ISBN 978-92-64-11163-9, http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/40/12/49170449.pdf, retrieved 6 December 2011 This book released with two titles, depending on country of publication. However, the ISBN remains the same 

External links[link]

• Global Peace Index Map of Gini data for 2007-2010
• The World Distribution of Household Wealth
• A map of world poverty
• It's the Inequality, Stupid. March/April 2011 Issue. Mother Jones (magazine). Many charts, with sources.
• Who Rules America: Wealth, Income, and Power. July 2011. By G. William Domhoff. Many charts, and sources. See table 4 for wealth distribution by country. See table 7 for income distribution by country.
• Alan Grayson says United States has fifth-most unequal wealth distribution in world. 10 October 2011. PolitiFact. Discusses income distribution too.
• CHARTS: Here's What The Wall Street Protesters Are So Angry About.... 11 October 2011. Business Insider.
• Shadow economies all over the world : new estimates for 162 countries from 1999 to 2007. Friedrich Schneider, Andreas Buehn, Claudio E. Montenegro. July 2010. World Bank.

Income equality is discussed in the following articles:

• List of countries by income equality
• Economic egalitarianism

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Emmanuel Saez (born November 26, 1972, in Spain) is a French economist. Saez is Professor of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley.^[1] His work, done with Thomas Piketty, includes tracking the incomes of the poor, middle class and rich around the world. Their work shows that top earners in the United States have taken an increasingly larger share of overall income over the last three decades, with almost as much inequality as before the Great Depression. He recommends much higher taxes on the rich, up to 70% or 90%.^[2] He received the John Bates Clark Medal in 2009 and was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2010.

Awards[link]

John Bates Clark Medal[link]

He was the recipient of the 2009 John Bates Clark Medal, awarded to "that American economist under the age of forty who is judged to have made the most significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge."^[3] Saez's research contributions have been mainly in the field of Public Economics. The 2009 John Bates Clark citation reads:^[4]

"[Saez's] work attacks policy questions from both theoretical and empirical perspectives, on the one hand refining the theory in ways that link the characteristics of optimal policy to measurable aspects of the economy and of behavior, while on the other hand undertaking careful and creative empirical studies designed to fill the gaps in measurement identified by the theory. Through a collection of interrelated papers, he has brought the theory of taxation closer to practical policy making, and has helped to lead a resurgence of academic interest in taxation."

MacArthur Fellow[link]

In 2010, the MacArthur Foundation named Saez a MacArthur Fellow for his research into the connection between income and tax policy.^[5]

Research[link]

Saez has written extensively on the theory of optimal taxation and transfer, addressing topics such as wealth and income inequality, capital income taxation, and retirement. In addition to his theoretical work, he has authored a number of empirical papers, many of them applying the results from his theoretical work to US household data. His focus on the top .1 % of the income and wealth distribution has led to political theories about the "great compression" and the "great divergence"^[6][7] It has led to significant research on the consensus about the ideal wealth distribution.

Saez's research on wealth and income inequality has largely focused on households at the top of the wealth and income distributions. These households make up a significant portion of the US tax base.

Conservative critics, such as James Pethokoukis of the American Enterprise Institute, say that Saez and Piketty measure "market income," or total income before tax excluding income from government. Saez describes it as gross income reported on tax returns before any deductions. This excludes unemployment insurance, welfare payments, food stamps, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and employer-provided health insurance. Saez says that these are the best data available, measured consistently since 1913. Critics say that they exaggerate inequality.^[8]

See Tax Policy and Economic Inequality in the United States for a more detailed summary.

In 2011 he (and Peter Diamond) argued in public media widely discussed paper^[9] that the right marginal tax rate for North Atlantic societies and especially the United States to impose is 73 % (rather than according to Saez/Diamond in case of the U.S. 42,5 %).^[10]

Personal[link]

Saez has been described as an "easygoing" person who loves surfing.^[11] He has reportedly resisted overtures from the economics departments at the University of Chicago, Harvard University, and his alma mater MIT.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Emmanuel Saez's homepage