Income inequality: Atkinson index in South Africa
South Africa: Income inequality: Atkinson index was 0.5993 in 2023. ▼ Falling
Income inequality: Atkinson index in South Africa, 2010–2023
Source: UNDP, Human Development Report (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for income inequality: atkinson index in South Africa is 0.5993, measured in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 14 years on record.
The figure is down 0.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, income inequality: atkinson index in South Africa peaked at 0.6759 in 2010 and was at its lowest, 0.5993, in 2017.
That places South Africa 3rd out of 174 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 14 years of available data.
Income inequality: Atkinson index in South Africa, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 0.6759 | — |
| 2011 | 0.6759 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 0.5999 | -11.2% |
| 2013 | 0.5999 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 0.5999 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 0.6027 | +0.5% |
| 2016 | 0.6027 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 0.5993 | -0.6% |
| 2018 | 0.5993 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 0.5993 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 0.5993 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 0.5993 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 0.5993 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 0.5993 | +0.0% |
South Africa compared with similar countries
- South Africa's 0.5993 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.2515, 2.4× the median. (51 countries reporting)
- South Africa's 0.5993 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.4345, 1.4× the median. (47 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 0.6155 | 0.5993 | 0.6759 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.5993 | 0.5993 | 0.5993 | 4 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More poverty & inequality data for South Africa
- 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 2.22 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 4,562 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 -20.01 % change on previous year (2024)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 28.13 (2022)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 28.1% (2022)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is income inequality: atkinson index in South Africa?
- Income inequality: atkinson index in South Africa was 0.5993 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 South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 0.6759 in 2010.
- What is the lowest income inequality: atkinson index recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.5993 in 2017.
- How does South Africa rank for income inequality: atkinson index?
- South Africa ranks 3rd out of 174 countries with data for 2023.
- Is income inequality: atkinson index rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 0.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Africa 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.