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Economy > GINI index: Countries Compared

DEFINITION: Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of income (or, in some cases, consumption expenditure) among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Lorenz curve plots the cumulative percentages of total income received against the cumulative number of recipients, starting with the poorest individual or household. The Gini index measures the area between the Lorenz curve and a hypothetical line of absolute equality, expressed as a percentage of the maximum area under the line. Thus a Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality.

CONTENTS

# COUNTRY AMOUNT DATE GRAPH HISTORY
1 Namibia 74.33 1993
2 Lesotho 63.2 1995
3 Sierra Leone 62.9 1989
4 Central African Republic 61.33 1993
5 Botswana 60.51 1993
6 Bolivia 60.05 2002
7 Haiti 59.21 2001
8 Colombia 58.62 2003
9 Paraguay 58.36 2003
10 South Africa 57.78 2000
11 Brazil 56.99 2004
12 Panama 56.08 2003
13 Guatemala 55.13 2002
14 Chile 54.92 2003
15 Honduras 53.84 2003
16 Ecuador 53.55 1998
17 El Salvador 52.36 2002
18 Peru 52.02 2003
19 Dominican Republic 51.64 2004
20 Argentina 51.32 2004
21 Papua New Guinea 50.9 1996
22 Zambia 50.8 2004
23 Niger 50.54 1995
24 Swaziland 50.4 2001
25 The Gambia 50.23 1998
26 Zimbabwe 50.1 1996
27 Costa Rica 49.76 2003
28 Malaysia 49.15 1997
29 Venezuela 48.2 2003
30 Madagascar 47.45 2001
31 Mozambique 47.29 2002
32 Nepal 47.17 2004
33 Guinea-Bissau 47.05 1993
34 China 46.9 2004
35 Rwanda 46.79 2000
36 Mexico 46.05 2004
37 Uganda 45.7 2002
38 Jamaica 45.51 2004
39 Uruguay 44.85 2003
40 Cote d'Ivoire 44.58 2002
41 Cameroon 44.56 2001
42 Philippines 44.53 2003
43 Nigeria 43.7 2003
44 Turkey 43.64 2003
45 Hong Kong 43.44 1996
46 Guyana 43.2 1999
47 Nicaragua 43.11 2001
48 Iran 43 1998
49 Saint Lucia 42.58 1995
50 Kenya 42.5 1997
51 Singapore 42.48 1998
52 Burundi 42.39 1998
53 Thailand 41.98 2002
54 Cambodia 41.71 2004
55 Senegal 41.25 2001
56 United States 40.81 2000
57 Ghana 40.79 1998
58 Turkmenistan 40.76 1998
59 Georgia 40.44 2003
60 Sri Lanka 40.17 2002
61 Mali 40.1 2001
62 Russia 39.93 2002
63 Tunisia 39.8 2000
64 Burkina Faso 39.51 2003
65 Morocco 39.5 1999
66 Israel 39.2 2001
67 Mauritania 39.01 2000
68 Malawi 39 2004
69 Trinidad and Tobago 38.88 1992
70 Jordan 38.84 2003
71 Guinea 38.6 2003
72 Portugal 38.45 1997
73 Latvia 37.67 2003
74 India 36.8 2004
75 Uzbekistan 36.77 2003
76 Azerbaijan 36.5 2001
77 Benin 36.48 2003
78 New Zealand 36.17 1997
=79 Lithuania 36.03 2003
=79 Italy 36.03 2000
81 United Kingdom 35.97 1999
82 Estonia 35.8 2003
83 Algeria 35.3 1995
84 Australia 35.19 1994
85 Spain 34.66 2000
86 Laos 34.65 2002
87 Tanzania 34.62 2000
88 Poland 34.47 2002
89 Egypt 34.41 2000
90 Vietnam 34.4 2004
91 Indonesia 34.31 2002
92 Ireland 34.28 2000
93 Greece 34.27 2000
94 Kazakhstan 33.91 2003
95 Armenia 33.77 2003
96 Switzerland 33.68 2000
97 Yemen 33.44 1998
98 Bangladesh 33.4 2000
99 Moldova 33.22 2003
100 Belgium 32.97 2000
101 Mongolia 32.8 2002
102 France 32.74 1995
103 Tajikistan 32.64 2003
104 Canada 32.56 2000
105 South Korea 31.59 1998
106 Albania 31.1 2004
107 Romania 31.05 2003
108 Netherlands 30.9 1999
109 Luxembourg 30.76 2000
110 Pakistan 30.56 2002
111 Kyrgyzstan 30.31 2003
112 Serbia and Montenegro 30.02 2003
113 Ethiopia 29.97 2000
114 Belarus 29.72 2002
115 Bulgaria 29.21 2003
116 Austria 29.15 2000
117 Croatia 29 2001
118 Slovenia 28.41 1998
119 Germany 28.31 2000
120 Ukraine 28.06 2003
121 Finland 26.88 2000
122 Hungary 26.85 2002
123 Bosnia and Herzegovina 26.15 2001
124 Slovakia 25.81 1996
125 Norway 25.79 2000
126 Czech Republic 25.4 1996
127 Sweden 25 2000
128 Japan 24.85 1993
129 Denmark 24.7 1997

Citation

Economy > GINI index: Countries Compared Map

NationMaster

Interesting observations about Economy > GINI index

  • All of the top 2 countries by GINI index are Sub-Saharan African.
  • All of the top 2 countries by GINI index are Christian.
  • All of the top 3 countries by GINI index are Former British Colonies'.
  • 23 of the top 31 countries by GINI index are Hot countries.
  • 4 of the top 6 countries by GINI index are Landlocked.
  • 4 of the top 6 countries by GINI index are Sparsely populated.
  • Colombia has ranked in the top 2 for GINI index since 1998.
  • 14 of the top 20 countries by GINI index are Latin American and Caribbean.
  • Brazil has ranked in the top 4 for GINI index since 1981.
  • 8 of the top 14 countries by GINI index are Catholic.

0

The U.S. ranks at #72 in inequality of distribution of income. This is not wealth distribution, but income. The U.S. gini for wealth is much higher, that is unequal. No developed country ranks below the U.S., is more unequal, in income distribution. Professor Emmanuel Saez of U.C. Berkeley has an informative report on inequality of income, "Striking It Richer" updated August, 2009. He states that for 2007 the top one percent of households received 23.5% of the national income, an amount greater than the bottom 60% of households. The top ten percent received 49.7%, while from 1940 to 1982 the top ten percent never received more than 35%.

Posted on 28 Jun 2010

BenL8

BenL8

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