Income inequality vs. GDP per capita in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Income inequality vs. GDP per capita was 0.3766 in 2019. ▲ Rising
Income inequality vs. GDP per capita in Sri Lanka, 1985–2019
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2019, income inequality vs. gdp per capita in Sri Lanka stood at 0.3766.
That represents a change of down 4.3% on the previous year and up 4.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, income inequality vs. gdp per capita in Sri Lanka peaked at 0.4017 in 2002 and was at its lowest, 0.3245, in 1990.
Sri Lanka ranks 38th of 120 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
Income inequality vs. GDP per capita in Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 0.3247 | — |
| 1990 | 0.3245 | -0.1% |
| 1995 | 0.354 | +9.1% |
| 2002 | 0.4017 | +13.5% |
| 2006 | 0.3967 | -1.3% |
| 2009 | 0.3605 | -9.1% |
| 2012 | 0.3871 | +7.4% |
| 2016 | 0.3935 | +1.6% |
| 2019 | 0.3766 | -4.3% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 0.3766 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.3588, 1.0× the median. (35 countries reporting)
- Sri Lanka's 0.3766 is above the median for South Asia, which is 0.3002, 1.3× the median. (5 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.3247 | 0.3247 | 0.3247 | 1 |
| 1990s | 0.3392 | 0.3245 | 0.354 | 2 |
| 2000s | 0.3863 | 0.3605 | 0.4017 | 3 |
| 2010s | 0.3857 | 0.3766 | 0.3935 | 3 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
More poverty & inequality data for Sri Lanka
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 2 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 1.97 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 3,804 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 25.42 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 9.85 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 9.8% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is income inequality vs. gdp per capita in Sri Lanka?
- Income inequality vs. gdp per capita in Sri Lanka was 0.3766 in 2019, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest income inequality vs. gdp per capita recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 0.4017 in 2002.
- What is the lowest income inequality vs. gdp per capita recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3245 in 1990.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for income inequality vs. gdp per capita?
- Sri Lanka ranks 38th out of 120 countries with data for 2019.
- Is income inequality vs. gdp per capita rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is up 4.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sri Lanka data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Income inequality vs. GDP per capita. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 9 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.