economic2023

Gini Coefficient by Country

Name: Gini Coefficient by Country
Creator: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform
Keywords: inequality, income, Gini, distribution, poverty, social mobility

Measure of income inequality (0=perfect equality, 100=perfect inequality). South Africa is most unequal at 63, Nordic nations lowest around 27.

Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform•44 countries

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Key Insights

Global Average

35.5

Median: 33.9

Countries Covered

with available data

Highest

South Africa

63.0

Lowest

Slovakia

24.1

Top 5 Countries

1South Africa63.0

2Brazil52.0

3Colombia51.5

4Costa Rica48.7

5Ecuador45.5

By Region

Africa63.0(1 countries)

South America47.0(5 countries)

North America40.1(3 countries)

Asia36.4(8 countries)

Other35.4(5 countries)

Key Findings

•US (41.5) is an outlier among developed nations
•Latin America has structurally high inequality
•Former Eastern Bloc nations have lowest inequality

Country Rankings

Top 10 Countries

Bottom 10 Countries

Data Analysis

Value Distribution

How countries are distributed across the value range

Low (20.0)High (65.0)

Regional Comparison

Average values by world region (Global avg: 35.5)

Africa (1)

South America (5)

North America (3)

Asia (8)

Other (5)

Oceania (1)

Europe (21)

Correlation Analysis

Income Inequality vs GDP per Capita

r = -0.44

Moderate negative

Interpretation: There is a moderate negative correlation between Income Inequality and GDP per Capita. Countries with higher values in one tend to have lower values in the other.

About This Statistic

The Gini coefficient is the definitive metric for assessing income inequality within nations. A score of 0 represents perfect equality (everyone has the same income), while 100 represents perfect inequality (one person has all the income).

The post-2020 data reveals that while inequality between nations is shrinking, inequality within nations often persists. Latin America exhibits the world's highest inequality, a legacy of colonial land tenure and unequal education access. Nordic countries produce the lowest scores through progressive taxation and robust social safety nets.

The United States (41.5) is a significant outlier among developed nations, with inequality levels closer to developing economies than its G7 peers. High inequality correlates with political polarization and can limit economic growth by constraining domestic consumption.

Methodology

Measures income distribution deviation from perfect equality using household survey data.

Full Data

Rank ↑	Country ↕	Value ↕
1	South Africa	63.0
2	Brazil	52.0
3	Colombia	51.5
4	Costa Rica	48.7
5	Ecuador	45.5
6	Mexico	45.4
7	Chile	44.4
8	Philippines	42.3
9	Türkiye	41.9
10	Argentina	41.7
11	United States of America	41.5
12	Bulgaria	40.0
13	Israel	38.6
14	Indonesia	37.9
15	People's Republic of China	37.1
16	Russian Federation	36.0
17	Italy	35.9
18	India	35.7
19	Vietnam	35.7
20	United Kingdom	35.1
21	Spain	34.7
22	Australia	34.3
23	Portugal	33.5
24	Canada	33.3
25	Greece	32.9
26	Japan	32.9
27	France	32.4
28	Germany	31.9
29	Ireland	31.5
30	South Korea	31.4
31	Austria	30.8
32	Poland	30.2
33	Hungary	29.6
34	Sweden	29.3
35	Denmark	28.2
36	Netherlands	28.1
37	Norway	27.6
38	Belgium	27.6
39	Finland	27.3
40	Belarus	25.3
41	Czech Republic	25.3
42	Armenia	25.1
43	Slovenia	24.4
44	Slovakia	24.1