World Bank Group · Gini Index
Gini index by country
How unequally is income shared?
Of the 60 countries compared in 2023, India had the lowest reading, 23.00, and Colombia had the highest reading, 54.58. In the middle country the figure was 33.72. Among the 24 countries measured in every edition since 2002, the middle one moved from 34.94 to 33.52.
Share
Gini index · 2023
Key statistic · Poverty & Inequality
Lowest of 60India
23.00012023 · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the lowest end of 60 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
1Photo: Kumaravels derivative work: ויקיג'אנקי · CC BY 2.5 in, greyscale
2Photo: József Süveg derivative work: Danapit · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
3Photo: Z.K. derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY 3.0, greyscale
02Every measured country
Gini index on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a lower value — the better end.
- 41.82–54.58
- 35.96–40.87
- 33.01–35.88
- 28.97–32.82
- 23.00–28.47
- No reading in 2023 (109 measured in an earlier edition)
- Europe
30.96
the middle country, of 28 measured · 49 members
Slovakia23.82
Bulgaria39.47Lowest and highest reading in Europe.
- Asia
34.65
the middle country, of 14 measured · 52 members
India23.00
Türkiye43.68Lowest and highest reading in Asia.
- Americas
44.18
the middle country, of 15 measured · 48 members
Dominican Republic38.40
Colombia54.58Lowest and highest reading in Americas.
- Africa
2 of 55 measured — too few for a middle: Rwanda, Uganda.
Uganda38.15
Rwanda39.36Lowest and highest reading in Africa.
- Oceania
1 of 21 measured — too few for a middle: Kiribati.
Kiribati24.74Lowest and highest reading in Oceania.
- Every region
14 sub-regions, lowest middle country first
- Eastern Europe
28.47
the middle country, of 7 measured · 10 members
Slovakia23.82Bulgaria39.47Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Northern Europe
29.60
the middle country, of 8 measured · 13 members
Norway26.53
Lithuania35.96Lowest and highest reading in Northern Europe.
- Western Europe
31.81
the middle country, of 5 measured · 9 members
Belgium26.82
Luxembourg33.59Lowest and highest reading in Western Europe.
- Southern Europe
33.11
the middle country, of 8 measured · 17 members
Slovenia24.68
Italy34.34Lowest and highest reading in Southern Europe.
- Western Asia
33.30
the middle country, of 6 measured · 19 members
Armenia27.15Türkiye43.68Lowest and highest reading in Western Asia.
- South America
43.29
the middle country, of 8 measured · 12 members
Peru40.66Colombia54.58Lowest and highest reading in South America.
- Central America
46.73
the middle country, of 5 measured · 8 members
El Salvador39.80
Panama48.88Lowest and highest reading in Central America.
- Caribbean
1 of 24 measured — too few for a middle: Dominican Republic.
Dominican Republic38.40Lowest and highest reading in Caribbean.
- Central Asia
3 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan.
Kyrgyzstan27.19
Tajikistan38.03Lowest and highest reading in Central Asia.
- Eastern Africa
2 of 19 measured — too few for a middle: Rwanda, Uganda.
Uganda38.15Rwanda39.36Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Micronesia
1 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Kiribati.
Kiribati24.74Lowest and highest reading in Micronesia.
- Northern America
1 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: United States.
United States41.82Lowest and highest reading in Northern America.
- South-eastern Asia
3 of 11 measured — too few for a middle: Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand.
Thailand33.49
Philippines39.34Lowest and highest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Southern Asia
2 of 9 measured — too few for a middle: India, Iran.
India23.00
Iran35.88Lowest and highest reading in Southern Asia.
03The whole field at once
The spread
60 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 33.72; a quarter are above 39.55, and a quarter below 29.81. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 169 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first — position 1 is the highest value, the way World Bank Group’s own tables read. “=” marks a position shared with another country. World Bank Group ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. The country set changes every year, and this is the thing to understand before reading any of it: each figure comes from whatever household survey that country happened to run, so a country missing from an edition did not become equal, it did not run a survey. Comparing the spread of one year against another compares different groups of countries.
Showing 25 of 169 countries
Values for 2023. The change column compares 2023 with 2022 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
052002–2023 · 22 reference years
Over time
Each point is one reference year from 2002. A single country’s line over time is meaningful — but only where surveys were actually run in those years.
- the middle country
- the middle half of countries
- the middle of the 24 countries measured every time
- each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
| Year | Countries | Middle country | Middle half | Measured every time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 60 | 33.72 | 29.81 – 39.55 | 33.52 |
| 2022 | 73 | 33.91 | 30.93 – 38.75 | 33.58 |
| 2021 | 82 | 34.04 | 31.13 – 38.66 | 34.02 |
| 2020 | 71 | 34.18 | 29.48 – 38.27 | 34.09 |
| 2019 | 79 | 33.51 | 30.08 – 38.66 | 34.54 |
| 2018 | 94 | 35.25 | 30.66 – 39.89 | 35.25 |
| 2017 | 79 | 34.86 | 30.47 – 39.92 | 35.51 |
| 2016 | 84 | 34.47 | 31.19 – 40.13 | 34.69 |
| 2015 | 87 | 35.52 | 31.35 – 41.27 | 35.65 |
| 2014 | 84 | 34.79 | 31.10 – 40.64 | 35.46 |
| 2013 | 78 | 36.16 | 30.92 – 40.38 | 35.41 |
| 2012 | 87 | 35.40 | 30.64 – 41.13 | 35.20 |
| 2011 | 82 | 33.96 | 29.88 – 42.00 | 34.95 |
| 2010 | 87 | 33.71 | 30.23 – 40.16 | 34.35 |
| 2009 | 83 | 34.91 | 30.89 – 43.26 | 33.72 |
| 2008 | 79 | 34.60 | 30.77 – 43.06 | 34.23 |
| 2007 | 73 | 34.26 | 30.58 – 39.76 | 34.21 |
| 2006 | 82 | 35.63 | 30.27 – 42.74 | 35.26 |
| 2005 | 81 | 36.28 | 30.84 – 44.39 | 35.56 |
| 2004 | 75 | 34.29 | 30.14 – 41.54 | 35.60 |
| 2003 | 69 | 35.46 | 30.87 – 43.77 | 34.92 |
| 2002 | 68 | 37.14 | 32.54 – 45.62 | 34.94 |
062022 → 2023
Who rose and fell
The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions — reference years recalculated in one report, not two separate publications. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.
Improved most
before → afterWorsened most
before → after
Uzbekistan31.18 → 34.54 · 54th → 27th+3.36
Argentina40.74 → 42.39 · 14th → 10th+1.65- Dominican Republic36.98 → 38.40 · 26th → 19th+1.42
- Bulgaria38.20 → 39.47 · 24th → 16th+1.27
Georgia33.50 → 34.76 · 44th → 26th+1.26
51 countries were measured in both 2022 and 2023. The field changed from 73 to 60 countries, so a place can move for reasons that have nothing to do with the country itself.
07Across every edition
Gini index in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
65.00
Gini index (0 = perfect equality, 100 = perfect inequality)
Lowest reading on record
23.00
Gini index (0 = perfect equality, 100 = perfect inequality)
Biggest improvement between editions
−11.07
49.38 → 38.31
Biggest decline between editions
+17.47
26.72 → 44.19
Most improved since first measured
−17.22
59.27 → 42.05
At the top most often
10 of 22
editions, alone at the first-listed end
08The measure
About gini index
The Gini index measures how far a country’s income distribution departs from perfect equality, from 0 (everyone earns the same) to 100 (one person earns everything). It is the most widely used inequality measure there is, and the World Bank computes it from household surveys.
What the number is: Gini index (0 = perfect equality, 100 = perfect inequality).
What it does not measure
It measures how income or consumption is spread, not wealth, and it mixes the two yardsticks: some countries survey what households earn and others what they spend, spending is usually more evenly spread than income, and the same country can read several points apart depending on which survey it ran.
09Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
A key statistic for Poverty & Inequality
“How evenly income or consumption is shared across a whole population — the distance between rich and poor that an average income cannot show.”
- Edition used
- 2023 (data 2023)
- Countries
- 159
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
Moves with
Where gini index is higher, these tend to be higher too.
No statistic lines up this closely.
Moves against
Where gini index is higher, these tend to be lower.
No statistic lines up this closely.
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 0 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
10Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
More from World Bank Group
11Questions
Gini index: questions and answers
Which country has the lowest gini index?
India, at 23.00, among the 60 countries compared in 2023.
Which country has the highest gini index?
Colombia, at 54.58, among the 60 countries compared in 2023.
How many countries does the Gini Index cover?
60 in 2023, and 169 at least once across all editions. The number measured varies from 60 to 94 between editions.
What is the world average gini index?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 60 compared in 2023, the figure was 33.72.
Is this World Bank Group’s own ranking?
No. World Bank Group publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.
How often is the Gini Index published?
This site holds 22 reference years, 2002–2023, all recalculated in World Bank Group’s 2026 report on one method — not 22 separate publications.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From World Bank Group, under CC BY 4.0. Read from the World Bank’s Poverty and Inequality Platform rather than its indicator API, which rounds to one decimal. Years outside 2002–2023 fall below 60 countries and are not imported. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
12Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Gini Index — World Bank Group
Read from the World Bank’s Poverty and Inequality Platform rather than its indicator API, which rounds to one decimal. Years outside 2002–2023 fall below 60 countries and are not imported.
Newest edition
Report year 2023Data year 2023
Cite the source as: World Bank. Poverty and Inequality Platform. Washington, DC: World Bank Group.
Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-09-09.
How this page reads the numbers
- World Bank Group ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Photographs
The countries at the top of this statistic, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- India — Kumaravels derivative work: ויקיג'אנקי, CC BY 2.5 in
- Slovakia — József Süveg derivative work: Danapit, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Slovenia — Z.K. derivative work: Jjtkk, CC BY 3.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Gini index by country: Gini Index, data from World Bank Group. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/gini-index