Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax in China
China: Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax was 0.5185 in 2015. ▲ Rising
Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax in China, 1980–2015
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 China is 0.5185, measured in 2015.
That represents a change of down 3.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax in China peaked at 0.5418 in 2010 and was at its lowest, 0.3782, in 1980.
That places China 54th out of 109 countries with data for 2015, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 36 years of available data.
Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax in China, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 0.3782 | — |
| 1981 | 0.3834 | +1.4% |
| 1982 | 0.3859 | +0.7% |
| 1983 | 0.3885 | +0.7% |
| 1984 | 0.3939 | +1.4% |
| 1985 | 0.4018 | +2.0% |
| 1986 | 0.4116 | +2.4% |
| 1987 | 0.4159 | +1.0% |
| 1988 | 0.4199 | +1.0% |
| 1989 | 0.4287 | +2.1% |
| 1990 | 0.425 | -0.9% |
| 1991 | 0.4409 | +3.7% |
| 1992 | 0.456 | +3.4% |
| 1993 | 0.4708 | +3.2% |
| 1994 | 0.477 | +1.3% |
| 1995 | 0.47 | -1.5% |
| 1996 | 0.4658 | -0.9% |
| 1997 | 0.4666 | +0.2% |
| 1998 | 0.4684 | +0.4% |
| 1999 | 0.4759 | +1.6% |
| 2000 | 0.491 | +3.2% |
| 2001 | 0.4922 | +0.2% |
| 2002 | 0.517 | +5.0% |
| 2003 | 0.5271 | +2.0% |
| 2004 | 0.5271 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 0.5371 | +1.9% |
| 2006 | 0.5363 | -0.1% |
| 2007 | 0.5397 | +0.6% |
| 2008 | 0.5372 | -0.5% |
| 2009 | 0.5364 | -0.1% |
| 2010 | 0.5418 | +1.0% |
| 2011 | 0.535 | -1.3% |
| 2012 | 0.521 | -2.6% |
| 2013 | 0.5267 | +1.1% |
| 2014 | 0.5186 | -1.5% |
| 2015 | 0.5185 | -0.0% |
China compared with similar countries
- China's 0.5185 is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.5361, 97% of the median. (30 countries reporting)
- China's 0.5185 is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.5317, 98% of the median. (14 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.4008 | 0.3782 | 0.4287 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.4616 | 0.425 | 0.477 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.5241 | 0.491 | 0.5397 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.5269 | 0.5185 | 0.5418 | 6 |
Countries ranked near China
- 51 Argentina 0.5242 compare
- 52 Guinea-Bissau 0.5238 compare
- 53 Israel 0.5191 compare
- 55 Bangladesh 0.5167 compare
- 55 Tajikistan 0.5167 compare
- 57 Iran 0.5149 compare
More poverty & inequality data for China
- 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 0.999 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 6,418 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 0.5767 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 22.1 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 22.1% (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 China?
- Income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax in China was 0.5185 in 2015, 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 China?
- The highest recorded value was 0.5418 in 2010.
- What is the lowest income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax recorded in China?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3782 in 1980.
- How does China rank for income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax?
- China ranks 54th out of 109 countries with data for 2015.
- Is income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax rising or falling in China?
- Over the last ten years it is down 3.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this China 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.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 36 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
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.