Relative poverty: Share of population below 60% of the median in Australia
Australia: Relative poverty: Share of population below 60% of the median was 16.9% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Relative poverty: Share of population below 60% of the median in Australia, 1981–2020
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2020, relative poverty: share of population below 60% of the median in Australia stood at 16.9%.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 1.7% on the previous year and down 5.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, relative poverty: share of population below 60% of the median in Australia peaked at 18.3% in 2008 and was at its lowest, 16.0%, in 1981.
That places Australia 82nd out of 120 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 13 years of available data.
Relative poverty: Share of population below 60% of the median in Australia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 16.0% | — |
| 1985 | 16.3% | +1.9% |
| 1989 | 17.4% | +6.7% |
| 1995 | 17.0% | -2.3% |
| 2001 | 17.1% | +0.6% |
| 2003 | 17.0% | -0.6% |
| 2004 | 17.0% | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 18.3% | +7.6% |
| 2010 | 17.9% | -2.2% |
| 2014 | 16.7% | -6.7% |
| 2016 | 17.3% | +3.6% |
| 2018 | 17.2% | -0.6% |
| 2020 | 16.9% | -1.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 16.6% | 16.0% | 17.4% | 3 |
| 1990s | 17.0% | 17.0% | 17.0% | 1 |
| 2000s | 17.4% | 17.0% | 18.3% | 4 |
| 2010s | 17.3% | 16.7% | 17.9% | 4 |
| 2020s | 16.9% | 16.9% | 16.9% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Australia
More poverty & inequality data for Australia
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 3 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 1.64 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 2,690 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 -0.0446 % change on previous year (2024)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 30.36 (2022)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 30.4% (2022)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is relative poverty: share of population below 60% of the median in Australia?
- Relative poverty: share of population below 60% of the median in Australia was 16.9% in 2020, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest relative poverty: share of population below 60% of the median recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 18.3% in 2008.
- What is the lowest relative poverty: share of population below 60% of the median recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 16.0% in 1981.
- How does Australia rank for relative poverty: share of population below 60% of the median?
- Australia ranks 82nd out of 120 countries with data for 2020.
- Is relative poverty: share of population below 60% of the median rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 5.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Australia 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 Relative poverty: Share of population below 60% of the median. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 13 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Percentage of population living in households with an income or consumption below 60% of the median.