World production is so high as it has never been before in history. Humanity has reached a level of efficiency that could feed the entire world. 💪 Then why are so many people still living and dying in poverty? 😞 These are the observations and questions that motivated me to create this project on globa inequality.
Global inequality has always been very high, reflecting the persistence of a world economic system that is extremely hierarchical both between countries and within them. On the other hand, in more and more countries fascism is again on the rise. Both might be related as in particular extreme inequality leads to high level of frustration, fear, and anger. 😡
The data presented in this project are provided by the World inequality lab using the work of more than 100 researchers located on all continents. This vast network collaborates with statistical institutions, tax authorities, universities, and international organizations, to harmonize international inequality data. Thanks to this systematic data on inequality at the global level and over the last four decades trends can be made visual. 👀
Gini by country 1980 to 2024
The most commonly used measurement for economic inequality is the Gini index, which varies from 0 = complete equality to 1 = complete inequality. What does complete inequality mean? Basically one person having it all, while the rest has nothing. In this line chart we look at the development over the last four decades on a country level, meaning each line represents a country.
One flat line 🤔
Looking at theglobal 🌎average (weighted) we see a line closer to 1 (inequality) and rather flat, meaning that there hasn’t been much change on this aggregated level. Someone might questioning if the world actually has become more unequal as commonly reported and contar that the world has been uneqaul since decades. Let’s have a deeper look into this by decomposing the world. 🤓
Average can be misleading 🤯
Although the average offers a concise summary, it causes us to lose detailed information and may even lead to misinterpretation. Examining all countries collectively reveals a wider range in the Gini coefficient, prompting the question: why do some countries exhibit lower inequality than others? 🧐
Oneglobal 🌎trend evident in this chart is the reduction in the gap between countries, indicating that the differences among countries were larger in the 1980s than they are today in the 2020s.
Europe most equal 🥳
The region with the lowest inequality level, far below theglobal 🌎average isEurope.Even though we can identify especially in the early 90s a slight trend towards inequality, it is still the region with the lowest gini on average.
All European countries low
When decomposing theEuropeanaverage on a country level, someone can observe the differences. Nevertheless are all countries in a the lower Gini level compared to the rest of the world. 🌍
USA towards inequality
TheUSA 🇺🇸was similar toEuropeanstandards in the 80s. Over the last four decades the US has become steadily more unequal, currently reached the highest level.
USA vs. Central/South America
TheUSA 🇺🇸is today rather similar to inequality levels observed inCentral and South America,which is one the most unequal regions.
Mexico with extrem inquality
Available data suggest thatMexico 🇲🇽did not experience a strong reduction in inequality over the 20th century. In fact, income inequality has been extreme throughout the past and present centuries. 😕
South Africa the most inequal
Even more unequal thanMexico 🇲🇽isSouth Africa 🇸🇸.While democratic rights were extended to the totality of the population after the end of apartheid in 1991, extreme economic inequalities have persisted and been exacerbated. 😔
The data and analysis presented here are based on the work of more than 100 researchers over four years, located on all continents, contributing to the World Inequality Database (WID.world), maintained by the World Inequality Lab. This vast network collaborates with statistical institutions, tax authorities, universities and international organizations, to harmonize, analyze and disseminate comparable international inequality data. This allows to present systematic data on inequality at the global level and to analyze how it has evolved over time. Global income inequality has always been very great, reflecting the persistence of a world economic system that is extremely hierarchical both between countries and within them.
Gap between rich and poor
The upper line represents the income share of theglobal 🌎10 richest %. The lower line represents the income share of theglobal 🌎poorest 50%. The global bottom 50% income share remains historically low despite growth in the emerging world in the past decades.
Smallest gap in Europe
InEuropederegulation, privatizations, decreases in tax progressivity and a decline in union coverage all contributed to a formidable rise in the top 10% income share
Sweden had a reverse ratio
While inequalities have risen in Europe since the 1980s.Sweden 🇸🇪is one of the least unequal countries in terms of income in Europe and the world, with the top 10% of the population earning just over 30% of total national income and the bottom 50% earning almost 24% of national income.
USA with historical highs
Income inequality in theUSA 🇺🇸is among the highest among, as seen in the chart before. The top 10% earns on average 17 times more than the bottom 50%, which is significantly higher than in Europe. From the early 1980s onward, deregulation, privatizations, decreases in tax progressivity and a decline in union coverage all contributed to a formidable rise in the top 10% income share.
Mexico 🇲🇽
Huge cap, meaning the rich earn a lot the poorer half nothing, but last years postive development gap becoming smaller.
South Africa biggest gap
Income inequality in theSouth Africa 🇿🇦is the highest globally and over the last 4 decades.
The data and analysis presented here are based on the work of more than 100 researchers over four years, located on all continents, contributing to the World Inequality Database (WID.world), maintained by the World Inequality Lab. This vast network collaborates with statistical institutions, tax authorities, universities and international organizations, to harmonize, analyze and disseminate comparable international inequality data. This allows to present systematic data on inequality at the global level and to analyze how it has evolved over time. Global income inequality has always been very great, reflecting the persistence of a world economic system that is extremely hierarchical both between countries and within them.