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Economy > GINI index: Countries Compared

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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.
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CONTENTS

#
COUNTRY
AMOUNT
DATE
GRAPH
HISTORY
1 NamibiaNamibia 74.33 1993
2 LesothoLesotho 63.2 1995
3 Sierra LeoneSierra Leone 62.9 1989
4 Central African RepublicCentral Africa 61.33 1993
5 BotswanaBotswana 60.51 1993
6 BoliviaBolivia 60.05 2002
7 HaitiHaiti 59.21 2001
8 ColombiaColombia 58.62 2003
9 ParaguayParaguay 58.36 2003
10 South AfricaSouth Africa 57.78 2000
11 BrazilBrazil 56.99 2004
12 PanamaPanama 56.08 2003
13 GuatemalaGuatemala 55.13 2002
14 ChileChile 54.92 2003
15 HondurasHonduras 53.84 2003
16 EcuadorEcuador 53.55 1998
17 El SalvadorEl Salvador 52.36 2002
18 PeruPeru 52.02 2003
19 Dominican RepublicDominican Rep. 51.64 2004
20 ArgentinaArgentina 51.32 2004
21 Papua New GuineaPapua NG 50.9 1996
22 ZambiaZambia 50.8 2004
23 NigerNiger 50.54 1995
24 SwazilandSwaziland 50.4 2001
25 The GambiaThe Gambia 50.23 1998
26 ZimbabweZimbabwe 50.1 1996
27 Costa RicaCosta Rica 49.76 2003
28 MalaysiaMalaysia 49.15 1997
29 VenezuelaVenezuela 48.2 2003
30 MadagascarMadagascar 47.45 2001
31 MozambiqueMozambique 47.29 2002
32 NepalNepal 47.17 2004
33 Guinea-BissauGuinea-Bissau 47.05 1993
34 ChinaChina 46.9 2004
35 RwandaRwanda 46.79 2000
36 MexicoMexico 46.05 2004
37 UgandaUganda 45.7 2002
38 JamaicaJamaica 45.51 2004
39 UruguayUruguay 44.85 2003
40 Cote d'IvoireCote d'Ivoire 44.58 2002
41 CameroonCameroon 44.56 2001
42 PhilippinesPhilippines 44.53 2003
43 NigeriaNigeria 43.7 2003
44 TurkeyTurkey 43.64 2003
45 Hong KongHong Kong 43.44 1996
46 GuyanaGuyana 43.2 1999
47 NicaraguaNicaragua 43.11 2001
48 IranIran 43 1998
49 Saint LuciaSaint Lucia 42.58 1995
50 KenyaKenya 42.5 1997
51 SingaporeSingapore 42.48 1998
52 BurundiBurundi 42.39 1998
53 ThailandThailand 41.98 2002
54 CambodiaCambodia 41.71 2004
55 SenegalSenegal 41.25 2001
56 United StatesUnited States 40.81 2000
57 GhanaGhana 40.79 1998
58 TurkmenistanTurkmenistan 40.76 1998
59 GeorgiaGeorgia 40.44 2003
60 Sri LankaSri Lanka 40.17 2002
61 MaliMali 40.1 2001
62 RussiaRussia 39.93 2002
63 TunisiaTunisia 39.8 2000
64 Burkina FasoBurkina Faso 39.51 2003
65 MoroccoMorocco 39.5 1999
66 IsraelIsrael 39.2 2001
67 MauritaniaMauritania 39.01 2000
68 MalawiMalawi 39 2004
69 Trinidad and TobagoTrinidad+ 38.88 1992
70 JordanJordan 38.84 2003
71 GuineaGuinea 38.6 2003
72 PortugalPortugal 38.45 1997
73 LatviaLatvia 37.67 2003
74 IndiaIndia 36.8 2004
75 UzbekistanUzbekistan 36.77 2003
76 AzerbaijanAzerbaijan 36.5 2001
77 BeninBenin 36.48 2003
78 New ZealandNew Zealand 36.17 1997
=79 LithuaniaLithuania 36.03 2003
=79 ItalyItaly 36.03 2000
81 United KingdomUnited Kingdom 35.97 1999
82 EstoniaEstonia 35.8 2003
83 AlgeriaAlgeria 35.3 1995
84 AustraliaAustralia 35.19 1994
85 SpainSpain 34.66 2000
86 LaosLaos 34.65 2002
87 TanzaniaTanzania 34.62 2000
88 PolandPoland 34.47 2002
89 EgyptEgypt 34.41 2000
90 VietnamVietnam 34.4 2004
91 IndonesiaIndonesia 34.31 2002
92 IrelandIreland 34.28 2000
93 GreeceGreece 34.27 2000
94 KazakhstanKazakhstan 33.91 2003
95 ArmeniaArmenia 33.77 2003
96 SwitzerlandSwitzerland 33.68 2000
97 YemenYemen 33.44 1998
98 BangladeshBangladesh 33.4 2000
99 MoldovaMoldova 33.22 2003
100 BelgiumBelgium 32.97 2000
101 MongoliaMongolia 32.8 2002
102 FranceFrance 32.74 1995
103 TajikistanTajikistan 32.64 2003
104 CanadaCanada 32.56 2000
105 South KoreaSouth Korea 31.59 1998
106 AlbaniaAlbania 31.1 2004
107 RomaniaRomania 31.05 2003
108 NetherlandsNetherlands 30.9 1999
109 LuxembourgLuxembourg 30.76 2000
110 PakistanPakistan 30.56 2002
111 KyrgyzstanKyrgyzstan 30.31 2003
112 Serbia and MontenegroSerbia+ 30.02 2003
113 EthiopiaEthiopia 29.97 2000
114 BelarusBelarus 29.72 2002
115 BulgariaBulgaria 29.21 2003
116 AustriaAustria 29.15 2000
117 CroatiaCroatia 29 2001
118 SloveniaSlovenia 28.41 1998
119 GermanyGermany 28.31 2000
120 UkraineUkraine 28.06 2003
121 FinlandFinland 26.88 2000
122 HungaryHungary 26.85 2002
123 Bosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina 26.15 2001
124 SlovakiaSlovakia 25.81 1996
125 NorwayNorway 25.79 2000
126 Czech RepublicCzech Republic 25.4 1996
127 SwedenSweden 25 2000
128 JapanJapan 24.85 1993
129 DenmarkDenmark 24.7 1997

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Economy > GINI index: Countries Compared Map

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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.

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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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