Income inequality: Atkinson index in Afghanistan
Afghanistan: Income inequality: Atkinson index was 0.2923 in 2023. ▲ Rising
Income inequality: Atkinson index in Afghanistan, 2010–2023
Source: UNDP, Human Development Report (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Afghanistan recorded 0.2923 for income inequality: atkinson index in 2023. That is the highest value across all 14 years on record.
That represents a change of up 6.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, income inequality: atkinson index in Afghanistan peaked at 0.2923 in 2017 and was at its lowest, 0.2741, in 2012.
Afghanistan ranks 71st of 174 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 14 years of available data.
Income inequality: Atkinson index in Afghanistan, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 0.2864 | — |
| 2011 | 0.2864 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 0.2741 | -4.3% |
| 2013 | 0.2741 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 0.2741 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 0.2741 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 0.2741 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 0.2923 | +6.6% |
| 2018 | 0.2923 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 0.2923 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 0.2923 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 0.2923 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 0.2923 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 0.2923 | +0.0% |
Afghanistan compared with similar countries
- Afghanistan's 0.2923 is below the median for low income countries, which is 0.3934, 74% of the median. (23 countries reporting)
- Afghanistan's 0.2923 is above the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 0.2385, 1.2× the median. (18 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 0.282 | 0.2741 | 0.2923 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.2923 | 0.2923 | 0.2923 | 4 |
Countries ranked near Afghanistan
More poverty & inequality data for Afghanistan
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 4.84 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 2,359 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 2.41 % change on previous year (2024)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 6.76 (2020)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 6.8% (2020)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2020)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, annual growth rate -19.16 % change on previous year (2020)
- Gender Inequality Index 0.661 (2023)
- Lifespan inequality: Gini coefficient in women 0.1662 (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is income inequality: atkinson index in Afghanistan?
- Income inequality: atkinson index in Afghanistan was 0.2923 in 2023, according to UNDP, Human Development Report (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest income inequality: atkinson index recorded in Afghanistan?
- The highest recorded value was 0.2923 in 2017.
- What is the lowest income inequality: atkinson index recorded in Afghanistan?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.2741 in 2012.
- How does Afghanistan rank for income inequality: atkinson index?
- Afghanistan ranks 71st out of 174 countries with data for 2023.
- Is income inequality: atkinson index rising or falling in Afghanistan?
- Over the last ten years it is up 6.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Afghanistan data come from?
- The figures come from UNDP, Human Development Report (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Income inequality: Atkinson index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 14 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
The Atkinson index measures inequality on a scale from 0 to 1. Higher values indicate higher inequality. Depending on the country and year, the data relates to income measured after taxes and benefits, or to consumption, per capita.