Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax in Denmark
Denmark: Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax was 0.2359 in 2022. ▲ Rising
Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax in Denmark, 1981–2022
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 Denmark is 0.2359, measured in 2022. That is the highest value across all 42 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.5% on the previous year and up 13.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax in Denmark peaked at 0.2359 in 2022 and was at its lowest, 0.1728, in 1994.
That places Denmark 108th out of 109 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 42 years of available data.
Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax in Denmark, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 0.2272 | — |
| 1982 | 0.2295 | +1.0% |
| 1983 | 0.2231 | -2.8% |
| 1984 | 0.2239 | +0.4% |
| 1985 | 0.2313 | +3.3% |
| 1986 | 0.2101 | -9.2% |
| 1987 | 0.2055 | -2.2% |
| 1988 | 0.1901 | -7.5% |
| 1989 | 0.1918 | +0.9% |
| 1990 | 0.19 | -0.9% |
| 1991 | 0.186 | -2.1% |
| 1992 | 0.1809 | -2.7% |
| 1993 | 0.173 | -4.4% |
| 1994 | 0.1728 | -0.1% |
| 1995 | 0.1774 | +2.7% |
| 1996 | 0.1795 | +1.2% |
| 1997 | 0.1865 | +3.9% |
| 1998 | 0.1893 | +1.5% |
| 1999 | 0.1995 | +5.4% |
| 2000 | 0.198 | -0.8% |
| 2001 | 0.1962 | -0.9% |
| 2002 | 0.1925 | -1.9% |
| 2003 | 0.1831 | -4.9% |
| 2004 | 0.1867 | +2.0% |
| 2005 | 0.1962 | +5.1% |
| 2006 | 0.2135 | +8.8% |
| 2007 | 0.2085 | -2.3% |
| 2008 | 0.2131 | +2.2% |
| 2009 | 0.1916 | -10.1% |
| 2010 | 0.2094 | +9.3% |
| 2011 | 0.207 | -1.1% |
| 2012 | 0.2078 | +0.4% |
| 2013 | 0.2117 | +1.9% |
| 2014 | 0.2033 | -4.0% |
| 2015 | 0.211 | +3.8% |
| 2016 | 0.2162 | +2.5% |
| 2017 | 0.2209 | +2.2% |
| 2018 | 0.2321 | +5.1% |
| 2019 | 0.2266 | -2.4% |
| 2020 | 0.227 | +0.2% |
| 2021 | 0.2324 | +2.4% |
| 2022 | 0.2359 | +1.5% |
Denmark compared with similar countries
- Denmark's 0.2359 is below the median for high income countries, which is 0.3617, 65% of the median. (43 countries reporting)
- Denmark's 0.2359 is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.3666, 64% of the median. (42 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.2147 | 0.1901 | 0.2313 | 9 |
| 1990s | 0.1835 | 0.1728 | 0.1995 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.1979 | 0.1831 | 0.2135 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.2146 | 0.2033 | 0.2321 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.2318 | 0.227 | 0.2359 | 3 |
Countries ranked near Denmark
More poverty & inequality data for Denmark
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 8 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 1.51 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 6,096 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 7.49 % change on previous year (2024)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 43.39 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 43.4% (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 Denmark?
- Income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax in Denmark was 0.2359 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 Denmark?
- The highest recorded value was 0.2359 in 2022.
- What is the lowest income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax recorded in Denmark?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.1728 in 1994.
- How does Denmark rank for income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax?
- Denmark ranks 108th out of 109 countries with data for 2022.
- Is income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax rising or falling in Denmark?
- Over the last ten years it is up 13.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Denmark 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
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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.