Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax by country
The Gini coefficient measures inequality on a scale from 0 to 1. Higher values indicate higher inequality. Inequality is measured here in terms of income after taxes and benefits.
What the numbers show
Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax is currently reported for 46 countries. The highest value is 0.6163 in South Africa; the lowest is 0.2362 in Slovakia.
The median across all reporting countries is 0.313, and the mean is 0.3354.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 3.
Over the past decade 17 countries rose and 29 fell. The largest increase was in Denmark (up 14.8%), and the largest decrease in Russia (down 17.7%).
Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Africa | 0.6163 | 2017 | down 6.3% | falling |
| 2 | Colombia | 0.5084 | 2023 | up 3.6% | falling |
| 3 | Chile | 0.4587 | 2017 | down 3.7% | falling |
| 4 | Brazil | 0.4527 | 2022 | up 0.1% | falling |
| 5 | Panama | 0.45 | 2019 | down 5.1% | falling |
| 6 | Paraguay | 0.449 | 2024 | down 10.9% | falling |
| 7 | Peru | 0.4357 | 2021 | down 7.1% | falling |
| 8 | United States | 0.3943 | 2024 | up 2.1% | rising |
| 9 | Mexico | 0.3855 | 2024 | down 16.4% | falling |
| 10 | Uruguay | 0.3838 | 2024 | up 4.3% | falling |
| 11 | Bulgaria | 0.3729 | 2022 | up 5.2% | rising |
| 12 | Mali | 0.3713 | 2024 | up 6.1% | flat |
| 13 | Philippines | 0.3674 | 2023 | down 15.9% | falling |
| 14 | Lithuania | 0.3534 | 2023 | up 1.1% | rising |
| 15 | Vietnam | 0.3498 | 2013 | down 5.1% | falling |
| 16 | Georgia | 0.3425 | 2022 | down 16.6% | falling |
| 17 | Israel | 0.3413 | 2022 | down 8.1% | rising |
| 18 | South Korea | 0.3315 | 2021 | up 7.0% | rising |
| 19 | Italy | 0.3279 | 2022 | down 1.6% | rising |
| 20 | Australia | 0.325 | 2020 | down 2.5% | rising |
| 21 | Switzerland | 0.3147 | 2022 | up 10.1% | rising |
| 22 | Estonia | 0.3143 | 2016 | up 0.4% | falling |
| 23 | Spain | 0.314 | 2022 | down 6.1% | flat |
| 24 | Germany | 0.3119 | 2022 | up 8.1% | rising |
| 25 | Serbia | 0.3114 | 2022 | down 5.8% | falling |
| 26 | Taiwan | 0.3079 | 2021 | down 2.9% | rising |
| 27 | Greece | 0.3075 | 2021 | down 4.9% | falling |
| 28 | Japan | 0.305 | 2020 | up 3.8% | flat |
| 29 | United Kingdom | 0.3024 | 2021 | down 3.3% | rising |
| 30 | Russia | 0.2998 | 2022 | down 17.7% | falling |
| 31 | France | 0.299 | 2022 | down 4.0% | flat |
| 32 | Canada | 0.2987 | 2022 | down 5.8% | flat |
| 33 | Romania | 0.2946 | 2021 | down 4.8% | rising |
| 34 | Poland | 0.2895 | 2023 | down 8.0% | flat |
| 36 | Denmark | 0.2881 | 2022 | up 14.8% | rising |
| 37 | Austria | 0.2844 | 2023 | up 1.5% | rising |
| 39 | Sweden | 0.2756 | 2023 | down 2.2% | rising |
| 40 | Netherlands | 0.2702 | 2021 | up 4.8% | rising |
| 41 | Hungary | 0.2682 | 2015 | down 6.8% | falling |
| 42 | Slovenia | 0.2628 | 2015 | up 13.6% | rising |
| 43 | Norway | 0.2602 | 2022 | up 3.4% | rising |
| 44 | Finland | 0.2584 | 2016 | down 3.1% | rising |
| 45 | Iceland | 0.2506 | 2017 | down 16.0% | falling |
| 46 | Belgium | 0.2432 | 2024 | down 7.3% | flat |
| 47 | Czechia | 0.2432 | 2023 | down 6.0% | flat |
| 48 | Slovakia | 0.2362 | 2018 | down 4.7% | rising |
About this data
The Gini coefficient measures inequality on a scale from 0 to 1. Higher values indicate higher inequality. Inequality is measured here in terms of income after taxes and benefits.