Gini coefficient (before tax) in India
India: Gini coefficient (before tax) was 0.6392 in 2022. ▲ Rising
Latest (2022)
0.6392
Change on year
up 1.1%
World rank
15th
of 113 countries
All-time high
0.6528
in 2017
All-time low
0.4302
in 1982
Years of data
75
1923–2022
Gini coefficient (before tax) in India, 1923–2022
Source: World Inequality Database (WID.world) (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
Analysis
India recorded 0.6392 for gini coefficient (before tax) in 2022.
That represents a change of up 1.1% on the previous year and up 2.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, gini coefficient (before tax) in India peaked at 0.6528 in 2017 and was at its lowest, 0.4302, in 1982.
That places India 15th out of 113 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 75 years of available data.
Gini coefficient (before tax) in India, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1923 | 0.5722 | — |
| 1924 | 0.5642 | -1.4% |
| 1925 | 0.5615 | -0.5% |
| 1926 | 0.5555 | -1.1% |
| 1927 | 0.5519 | -0.6% |
| 1928 | 0.5482 | -0.7% |
| 1929 | 0.5414 | -1.2% |
| 1930 | 0.5404 | -0.2% |
| 1931 | 0.5446 | +0.8% |
| 1932 | 0.5453 | +0.1% |
| 1933 | 0.5512 | +1.1% |
| 1934 | 0.5523 | +0.2% |
| 1935 | 0.5531 | +0.1% |
| 1936 | 0.5545 | +0.3% |
| 1937 | 0.556 | +0.3% |
| 1938 | 0.5606 | +0.8% |
| 1939 | 0.5618 | +0.2% |
| 1940 | 0.5636 | +0.3% |
| 1941 | 0.5495 | -2.5% |
| 1944 | 0.5122 | -6.8% |
| 1945 | 0.5023 | -1.9% |
| 1948 | 0.4653 | -7.4% |
| 1949 | 0.4505 | -3.2% |
| 1950 | 0.443 | -1.7% |
| 1954 | 0.4982 | +12.5% |
| 1955 | 0.51 | +2.4% |
| 1956 | 0.5133 | +0.6% |
| 1957 | 0.5016 | -2.3% |
| 1958 | 0.5063 | +0.9% |
| 1959 | 0.4994 | -1.4% |
| 1960 | 0.4884 | -2.2% |
| 1961 | 0.4882 | -0.0% |
| 1962 | 0.483 | -1.1% |
| 1965 | 0.4705 | -2.6% |
| 1966 | 0.4742 | +0.8% |
| 1967 | 0.4729 | -0.3% |
| 1968 | 0.4674 | -1.2% |
| 1971 | 0.4617 | -1.2% |
| 1974 | 0.4592 | -0.5% |
| 1975 | 0.4604 | +0.3% |
| 1976 | 0.4621 | +0.4% |
| 1977 | 0.4604 | -0.4% |
| 1978 | 0.4568 | -0.8% |
| 1979 | 0.4459 | -2.4% |
| 1980 | 0.4405 | -1.2% |
| 1981 | 0.4348 | -1.3% |
| 1982 | 0.4302 | -1.1% |
| 1983 | 0.4722 | +9.8% |
| 1984 | 0.4576 | -3.1% |
| 1985 | 0.4695 | +2.6% |
| 1986 | 0.4722 | +0.6% |
| 1987 | 0.4678 | -0.9% |
| 1988 | 0.4754 | +1.6% |
| 1989 | 0.4755 | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 0.4607 | -3.1% |
| 1991 | 0.4648 | +0.9% |
| 1992 | 0.4717 | +1.5% |
| 1993 | 0.4853 | +2.9% |
| 1994 | 0.4964 | +2.3% |
| 1995 | 0.4967 | +0.1% |
| 1996 | 0.4938 | -0.6% |
| 1997 | 0.4999 | +1.2% |
| 1998 | 0.5038 | +0.8% |
| 2005 | 0.5562 | +10.4% |
| 2012 | 0.6264 | +12.6% |
| 2013 | 0.6279 | +0.2% |
| 2014 | 0.6336 | +0.9% |
| 2015 | 0.6382 | +0.7% |
| 2016 | 0.6487 | +1.6% |
| 2017 | 0.6528 | +0.6% |
| 2018 | 0.6445 | -1.3% |
| 2019 | 0.6399 | -0.7% |
| 2020 | 0.6302 | -1.5% |
| 2021 | 0.632 | +0.3% |
| 2022 | 0.6392 | +1.1% |
India compared with similar countries
- India's 0.6392 is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 0.5789, 1.1× the median. (24 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920s | 0.5564 | 0.5414 | 0.5722 | 7 |
| 1930s | 0.552 | 0.5404 | 0.5618 | 10 |
| 1940s | 0.5072 | 0.4505 | 0.5636 | 6 |
| 1950s | 0.496 | 0.443 | 0.5133 | 7 |
| 1960s | 0.4778 | 0.4674 | 0.4884 | 7 |
| 1970s | 0.4581 | 0.4459 | 0.4621 | 7 |
| 1980s | 0.4596 | 0.4302 | 0.4755 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.4859 | 0.4607 | 0.5038 | 9 |
| 2000s | 0.5562 | 0.5562 | 0.5562 | 1 |
| 2010s | 0.639 | 0.6264 | 0.6528 | 8 |
| 2020s | 0.6338 | 0.6302 | 0.6392 | 3 |
Countries ranked near India
More poverty & inequality data for India
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 1 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 1.98 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 3,632 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 0.8468 % change on previous year (2024)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 17.32 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 17.3% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is gini coefficient (before tax) in India?
- Gini coefficient (before tax) in India was 0.6392 in 2022, according to World Inequality Database (WID.world) (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest gini coefficient (before tax) recorded in India?
- The highest recorded value was 0.6528 in 2017.
- What is the lowest gini coefficient (before tax) recorded in India?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.4302 in 1982.
- How does India rank for gini coefficient (before tax)?
- India ranks 15th out of 113 countries with data for 2022.
- Is gini coefficient (before 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 Gini coefficient (before 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 before taxes and benefits.