Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax in Australia
Australia: Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax was 0.3787 in 2022. ▲ Rising
Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax in Australia, 1980–2022
Source: World Inequality Database (WID.world) (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2022, income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax in Australia stood at 0.3787.
The figure is up 0.3% on the previous year and down 2.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax in Australia peaked at 0.3923 in 2015 and was at its lowest, 0.3535, in 1996.
Australia ranks 85th of 109 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 43 years of available data.
Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax in Australia, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 0.3666 | — |
| 1981 | 0.3666 | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 0.3756 | +2.5% |
| 1983 | 0.3689 | -1.8% |
| 1984 | 0.3666 | -0.6% |
| 1985 | 0.3654 | -0.3% |
| 1986 | 0.3705 | +1.4% |
| 1987 | 0.3749 | +1.2% |
| 1988 | 0.3845 | +2.6% |
| 1989 | 0.3655 | -4.9% |
| 1990 | 0.3596 | -1.6% |
| 1991 | 0.368 | +2.3% |
| 1992 | 0.3559 | -3.3% |
| 1993 | 0.3666 | +3.0% |
| 1994 | 0.3649 | -0.5% |
| 1995 | 0.3553 | -2.6% |
| 1996 | 0.3535 | -0.5% |
| 1997 | 0.3559 | +0.7% |
| 1998 | 0.3626 | +1.9% |
| 1999 | 0.3603 | -0.6% |
| 2000 | 0.3537 | -1.8% |
| 2001 | 0.3588 | +1.4% |
| 2002 | 0.3704 | +3.2% |
| 2003 | 0.3573 | -3.5% |
| 2004 | 0.3579 | +0.2% |
| 2005 | 0.3654 | +2.1% |
| 2006 | 0.3686 | +0.9% |
| 2007 | 0.3679 | -0.2% |
| 2008 | 0.3768 | +2.4% |
| 2009 | 0.3917 | +4.0% |
| 2010 | 0.3873 | -1.1% |
| 2011 | 0.3855 | -0.5% |
| 2012 | 0.3879 | +0.6% |
| 2013 | 0.3918 | +1.0% |
| 2014 | 0.3902 | -0.4% |
| 2015 | 0.3923 | +0.5% |
| 2016 | 0.3878 | -1.1% |
| 2017 | 0.3876 | -0.1% |
| 2018 | 0.3777 | -2.6% |
| 2019 | 0.3769 | -0.2% |
| 2020 | 0.3692 | -2.0% |
| 2021 | 0.3774 | +2.2% |
| 2022 | 0.3787 | +0.3% |
Australia compared with similar countries
- Australia's 0.3787 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.3617, 1.0× the median. (43 countries reporting)
- Australia's 0.3787 is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.5317, 71% of the median. (14 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.3705 | 0.3654 | 0.3845 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.3603 | 0.3535 | 0.368 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.3669 | 0.3537 | 0.3917 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.3865 | 0.3769 | 0.3923 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.3751 | 0.3692 | 0.3787 | 3 |
Countries ranked near Australia
More poverty & inequality data for Australia
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 3 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 1.64 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 2,690 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate -0.0446 % change on previous year (2024)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 30.36 (2022)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 30.4% (2022)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax in Australia?
- Income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax in Australia was 0.3787 in 2022, according to World Inequality Database (WID.world) (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 0.3923 in 2015.
- What is the lowest income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3535 in 1996.
- How does Australia rank for income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax?
- Australia ranks 85th out of 109 countries with data for 2022.
- Is income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 2.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from World Inequality Database (WID.world) (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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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.