Gini Index (Inequality) by Country — 2023 World Rankings

The Gini index measures income inequality on a scale from 0 (perfect equality, everyone earns the same) to 100 (perfect inequality, one person earns everything). It is the most widely used single-number measure of income distribution, calculated from household survey data compiled by the World Bank. A Gini of 25–30 is typical of egalitarian Nordic societies; 35–40 is common in the United States and China; and 50+ indicates extreme inequality, common in parts of Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa.

South Africa consistently records one of the world's highest Gini coefficients — around 63 — reflecting the lasting economic legacy of apartheid, where extreme wealth concentration by racial lines persists decades after political liberation. Brazil, Colombia, and several Central American countries also show Gini values above 50, driven by concentrated land ownership, limited social mobility, and weak public education systems. In contrast, the lowest Gini values (below 30) are found in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the Nordic countries, where progressive taxation, strong social safety nets, and accessible education compress the income distribution.

When interpreting Gini data, several caveats apply. First, the index captures income inequality but not wealth inequality, which is typically much more extreme — global wealth inequality is far higher than income inequality. Second, household surveys systematically undercount income at both tails of the distribution: the very poor (who are hard to survey) and the very rich (who underreport). Third, Gini values are not perfectly comparable across countries because survey methodologies differ. Despite these limitations, the Gini index remains the standard benchmark for international inequality comparisons.