The opposite extreme, complete inequality, where only 1 household has all the income and the rest have none, is represented by a Lorenz curve which comprises the horizontal axis and the right-hand vertical axis. The curve will lie somewhere between two extremes.Ĭomplete equality, where income is shared equally among all households, results in a Lorenz curve represented by a straight line. The dataset also includes the deconstruction of the change in global and regional Gini coefficients of net income inequality into three main components: (1) within-country inequality, (2) differences in mean incomes (between-country inequality), and (3) relative population size.The concept is expressed more formally by the Lorenz curve of household income distribution, from which the Gini coefficient can be calculated.īased on a ranking of households in order of ascending income, the Lorenz curve is a plot of the cumulative share of household income against the cumulative share of households. 12 Middle East and North African countries.24 Latin American and the Caribbean countries.13 European Union countries (members joined in 2004-13).15 European Union countries (members before 2004).27 European Union countries (current members).12 Commonwealth of Independent States countries.17 Emerging and developing Asian countries and ASEAN-5.This dataset includes annual data from 1988-2020 (or 1980-2020 for EU15 countries) on global and regional Gini coefficient estimates, using various methodologies, for the following country groups: Indicators of income distribution, such as quantile income shares and the Gini coefficient, are available for individual countries, but from official statistical sources they are not available for the world as a whole or for various country groups. This dataset includes updated global and regional Gini coefficient estimates from the paper:ĭarvas, Zsolt (2019), ‘ Global interpersonal income inequality decline: the role of China and India’, World Development 121, 16-32.Īn earlier version of this work has been published as:ĭarvas, Zsolt (2016) ‘Some are more equal than others: new estimates of global and regional inequality’, Working Paper 2016/08, Bruegel, 7 November 2016

Gini index