Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax in India

India: Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax was 0.621 in 2022. ▲ Rising

Latest (2022)
0.621
Change on year
up 1.1%
World rank
9th
of 109 countries
All-time high
0.6364
in 2017
All-time low
0.4215
in 1982
Years of data
31
1980–2022

Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax in India, 1980–2022

00.20.40.61980200120221980: 0.4321981: 0.4271982: 0.4211983: 0.4641984: 0.4511985: 0.4641986: 0.4681987: 0.4631988: 0.4711989: 0.4721990: 0.4551991: 0.4591992: 0.4651993: 0.4791994: 0.491995: 0.491996: 0.4861997: 0.4921998: 0.4982005: 0.5452012: 0.6092013: 0.6112014: 0.6152015: 0.6212016: 0.6322017: 0.6362018: 0.6282019: 0.6222020: 0.6132021: 0.6142022: 0.621

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 India stood at 0.621.

That represents a change of up 1.1% on the previous year and up 2.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax in India peaked at 0.6364 in 2017 and was at its lowest, 0.4215, in 1982.

That places India 9th out of 109 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 31 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1980s 0.4534 0.4215 0.4716 10
1990s 0.4793 0.4546 0.4976 9
2000s 0.5454 0.5454 0.5454 1
2010s 0.6218 0.609 0.6364 8
2020s 0.6159 0.6126 0.621 3

Countries ranked near India

  1. 6 Colombia 0.6444 compare
  2. 7 Zambia 0.6438 compare
  3. 8 Botswana 0.6382 compare
  4. 10 Mozambique 0.6181 compare
  5. 11 Uganda 0.618 compare
  6. 12 Chile 0.6162 compare

See the full ranking of 109 places →

More poverty & inequality data for India

All data for India →

Frequently asked questions

What is income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax in India?
Income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax in India was 0.621 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 India?
The highest recorded value was 0.6364 in 2017.
What is the lowest income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax recorded in India?
The lowest recorded value was 0.4215 in 1982.
How does India rank for income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax?
India ranks 9th out of 109 countries with data for 2022.
Is income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax rising or falling in India?
Over the last ten years it is up 2.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this India 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 — 31 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax
Source
World Inequality Database (WID.world) (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
109 places, 2,129 data points, 1980–2024
Last refreshed

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.