Gini Coefficient by Country Reference

Income inequality, country by country

This reference lists the Gini coefficient — the standard measure of income inequality — for the world’s countries, drawn from World Bank estimates. It is shown on both the 0–1 coefficient scale and the equivalent 0–100 index scale, along with an inequality band so you can scan the global picture quickly.

How it works

The Gini coefficient comes from the Lorenz curve, which plots the cumulative share of income against the cumulative share of population from poorest to richest. If income were perfectly equal the curve would be a 45° line. Gini is the area between that line of equality and the actual Lorenz curve, divided by the whole area under the line:

Gini = area between equality line and Lorenz curve
       --------------------------------------------
              total area under equality line

The result runs from 0 (perfect equality) to 1 (one person owns everything). Multiplying by 100 gives the Gini index. The band classifies each country as Low (under 30), Moderate (30–39.9), or High (40 and above).

What the numbers mean in practice

Gini is easier to interpret with some anchor points:

• Nordic countries and much of Central Europe typically sit below 30 on the 0–100 index — relatively compressed income distributions, often reinforced by strong social transfer systems.
• The United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia typically fall in the 33–36 range — moderate inequality typical of English-speaking market economies.
• The United States has a higher Gini than most other high-income countries, generally in the upper 30s, reflecting wider earnings dispersion and a thinner social safety net.
• Parts of southern Africa and Latin America record the world’s highest Gini values, often above 50, reflecting historically concentrated land and capital ownership.

An important point: countries with similar Gini values can have very different distributions underneath. A Gini of 35 could reflect a genuinely compressed middle class, or it could reflect a bimodal distribution where a large lower-middle class sits alongside a small very wealthy group. Gini compresses the full distribution into one number and cannot distinguish these shapes.

What Gini does not tell you

Gini measures the spread of income, not its level. A poor country with a compressed income distribution can have a lower Gini than a wealthy country with a wide spread — even though nearly everyone in the wealthy country is better off in absolute terms. Useful pairings:

• Gini + GDP per capita (or GNI per capita) — distinguishes “equally poor” from “equally prosperous.”
• Gini + poverty rate — a low Gini at low average income still produces widespread hardship.
• Gini + HDI — combines health, education, and income into a broader picture of well-being.

Also note that Gini is typically calculated from household survey data, which is collected infrequently and tends to undercount the very top of the income distribution (wealthy households are less likely to respond). Actual inequality in countries with large very-high-income populations may be higher than the published Gini suggests.

Tips and notes

• Sort ascending by Gini to find the world’s most equal economies — they cluster in northern and central Europe.
• Survey years vary by country; the most recent available estimate per country is shown, but some figures are several years old.
• For rigorous research, cite the specific survey year and source alongside the Gini value.