Share of the population in poverty vs. Electoral Democracy Index in Australia
Australia: Share of the population in poverty vs. Electoral Democracy Index was 1.6% in 2020. ▼ Falling
Share of the population in poverty vs. Electoral Democracy Index 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, share of the population in poverty vs. electoral democracy index in Australia stood at 1.6%.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 23.1% on the previous year and up 23.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the population in poverty vs. electoral democracy index in Australia peaked at 3.0% in 1989 and was at its lowest, 1.0%, in 2008.
That places Australia 100th out of 120 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 13 years of available data.
Share of the population in poverty vs. Electoral Democracy Index in Australia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 2.6% | — |
| 1985 | 2.9% | +11.5% |
| 1989 | 3.0% | +3.4% |
| 1995 | 2.7% | -10.0% |
| 2001 | 2.2% | -18.5% |
| 2003 | 2.3% | +4.5% |
| 2004 | 1.5% | -34.8% |
| 2008 | 1.0% | -33.3% |
| 2010 | 1.3% | +30.0% |
| 2014 | 1.2% | -7.7% |
| 2016 | 1.2% | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 1.3% | +8.3% |
| 2020 | 1.6% | +23.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 2.8% | 2.6% | 3.0% | 3 |
| 1990s | 2.7% | 2.7% | 2.7% | 1 |
| 2000s | 1.8% | 1.0% | 2.3% | 4 |
| 2010s | 1.2% | 1.2% | 1.3% | 4 |
| 2020s | 1.6% | 1.6% | 1.6% | 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 share of the population in poverty vs. electoral democracy index in Australia?
- Share of the population in poverty vs. electoral democracy index in Australia was 1.6% in 2020, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of the population in poverty vs. electoral democracy index recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 3.0% in 1989.
- What is the lowest share of the population in poverty vs. electoral democracy index recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.0% in 2008.
- How does Australia rank for share of the population in poverty vs. electoral democracy index?
- Australia ranks 100th out of 120 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of the population in poverty vs. electoral democracy index rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 23.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- 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 Share of the population in poverty vs. Electoral Democracy Index. 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 $10 per day.