Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax in Canada
Canada: Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax was 0.3617 in 2022. ▲ Rising
Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax in Canada, 1980–2022
Source: World Inequality Database (WID.world) (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax in Canada is 0.3617, measured in 2022.
That represents a change of up 4.6% on the previous year and down 5.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax in Canada peaked at 0.3965 in 2005 and was at its lowest, 0.3192, in 2020.
That places Canada 88th out of 109 countries with data for 2022, putting it 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 Canada, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 0.3362 | — |
| 1981 | 0.327 | -2.7% |
| 1982 | 0.3233 | -1.1% |
| 1983 | 0.327 | +1.1% |
| 1984 | 0.3298 | +0.9% |
| 1985 | 0.3269 | -0.9% |
| 1986 | 0.3377 | +3.3% |
| 1987 | 0.3383 | +0.2% |
| 1988 | 0.3445 | +1.8% |
| 1989 | 0.3453 | +0.2% |
| 1990 | 0.3463 | +0.3% |
| 1991 | 0.3426 | -1.1% |
| 1992 | 0.3417 | -0.3% |
| 1993 | 0.3458 | +1.2% |
| 1994 | 0.3496 | +1.1% |
| 1995 | 0.3562 | +1.9% |
| 1996 | 0.3662 | +2.8% |
| 1997 | 0.3703 | +1.1% |
| 1998 | 0.3703 | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 0.3737 | +0.9% |
| 2000 | 0.3794 | +1.5% |
| 2001 | 0.3796 | +0.1% |
| 2002 | 0.3909 | +3.0% |
| 2003 | 0.3934 | +0.6% |
| 2004 | 0.3913 | -0.5% |
| 2005 | 0.3965 | +1.3% |
| 2006 | 0.395 | -0.4% |
| 2007 | 0.3935 | -0.4% |
| 2008 | 0.3923 | -0.3% |
| 2009 | 0.3702 | -5.6% |
| 2010 | 0.3828 | +3.4% |
| 2011 | 0.3857 | +0.8% |
| 2012 | 0.3806 | -1.3% |
| 2013 | 0.3829 | +0.6% |
| 2014 | 0.3808 | -0.5% |
| 2015 | 0.37 | -2.8% |
| 2016 | 0.3552 | -4.0% |
| 2017 | 0.3614 | +1.7% |
| 2018 | 0.356 | -1.5% |
| 2019 | 0.3535 | -0.7% |
| 2020 | 0.3192 | -9.7% |
| 2021 | 0.3458 | +8.3% |
| 2022 | 0.3617 | +4.6% |
Canada compared with similar countries
- Canada's 0.3617 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.3617, 1.0× the median. (43 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.3336 | 0.3233 | 0.3453 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.3563 | 0.3417 | 0.3737 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.3882 | 0.3702 | 0.3965 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.3709 | 0.3535 | 0.3857 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.3422 | 0.3192 | 0.3617 | 3 |
Countries ranked near Canada
More poverty & inequality data for Canada
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 7 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 1.35 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 3,695 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate -9.41 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 34.78 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 34.8% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax in Canada?
- Income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax in Canada was 0.3617 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 Canada?
- The highest recorded value was 0.3965 in 2005.
- What is the lowest income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax recorded in Canada?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3192 in 2020.
- How does Canada rank for income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax?
- Canada ranks 88th out of 109 countries with data for 2022.
- Is income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax rising or falling in Canada?
- Over the last ten years it is down 5.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Canada 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.