World Bank Group · Prosperity Gap
Prosperity gap by country
How far would incomes have to rise for everyone to reach $28 a day?
Of the 60 countries compared in 2023, Luxembourg had the lowest reading, 0.406, and Uganda had the highest reading, 12.065. In the middle country the figure was 1.754. Among the 24 countries measured in every edition since 2002, the middle one moved from 3.225 to 1.352.
Share
Prosperity gap · 2023
Context statistic
Lowest of 60Luxembourg
0.406012023 · 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: Michal Osmenda from Brussels, Belgium · CC BY-SA 2.0, greyscale
2Photo: Simon Koopmann derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 2.0 de, greyscale
3Photo: Gf uip · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
Lowest on each continent
- Africa
Rwanda8.7732 of 55 measured
- Americas
United States1.434 - Asia
Cyprus0.608 - EuropeLuxembourg0.406
- Oceania
Kiribati3.7521 of 21 measured
- Every region
02Every measured country
Prosperity gap 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.
- 3.989–12.065
- 2.573–3.812
- 1.370–2.371
- 0.826–1.335
- 0.406–0.811
- No reading in 2023 (109 measured in an earlier edition)
- Europe
1.006
the middle country, of 28 measured · 49 members
Luxembourg0.406
Moldova2.575Lowest and highest reading in Europe.
- Americas
2.669
the middle country, of 15 measured · 48 members
United States1.434
Honduras6.628Lowest and highest reading in Americas.
- Asia
3.655
the middle country, of 14 measured · 52 members
Cyprus0.608
Indonesia4.968Lowest and highest reading in Asia.
- Africa
2 of 55 measured — too few for a middle: Rwanda, Uganda.
Rwanda8.773
Uganda12.065Lowest and highest reading in Africa.
- Oceania
1 of 21 measured — too few for a middle: Kiribati.
Kiribati3.752Lowest and highest reading in Oceania.
- Every region
14 sub-regions, lowest middle country first
- Western Europe
0.531
the middle country, of 5 measured · 9 members
Luxembourg0.406
Austria0.811Lowest and highest reading in Western Europe.
- Northern Europe
0.897
the middle country, of 8 measured · 13 members
Norway0.552
Lithuania1.581Lowest and highest reading in Northern Europe.
- Southern Europe
1.196
the middle country, of 8 measured · 17 members
Slovenia0.630
Serbia2.003Lowest and highest reading in Southern Europe.
- Eastern Europe
1.335
the middle country, of 7 measured · 10 members
Czechia0.826Moldova2.575Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Europe.
- South America
2.829
the middle country, of 8 measured · 12 members
Uruguay1.462
Colombia4.847Lowest and highest reading in South America.
- Western Asia
2.877
the middle country, of 6 measured · 19 members
Cyprus0.608
Georgia4.144Lowest and highest reading in Western Asia.
- Central America
3.553
the middle country, of 5 measured · 8 members
Costa Rica2.140Honduras6.628Lowest and highest reading in Central America.
- Caribbean
1 of 24 measured — too few for a middle: Dominican Republic.
Dominican Republic2.371Lowest and highest reading in Caribbean.
- Central Asia
3 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan3.199
Kyrgyzstan4.724Lowest and highest reading in Central Asia.
- Eastern Africa
2 of 19 measured — too few for a middle: Rwanda, Uganda.
Rwanda8.773Uganda12.065Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Micronesia
1 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Kiribati.
Kiribati3.752Lowest and highest reading in Micronesia.
- Northern America
1 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: United States.
United States1.434Lowest and highest reading in Northern America.
- South-eastern Asia
3 of 11 measured — too few for a middle: Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand.
Thailand1.926Indonesia4.968Lowest and highest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Southern Asia
2 of 9 measured — too few for a middle: India, Iran.
Iran3.320
India4.947Lowest 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 1.754; a quarter are above 3.379, and a quarter below 1.014. 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. This is a multiplier, not a percentage: 1.0 means the average person is already at the standard, and 20 means incomes would have to rise twentyfold. It is also not the Legatum Prosperity Index — the names are close and the two measure entirely different things.
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. Because the measure is a multiplier rather than a share, improvements at the very bottom of the distribution move it far more than improvements near the standard.
- 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 | 1.754 | 1.014 – 3.379 | 1.352 |
| 2022 | 73 | 2.118 | 1.182 – 3.909 | 1.503 |
| 2021 | 82 | 2.272 | 0.960 – 3.976 | 1.425 |
| 2020 | 71 | 1.530 | 0.861 – 2.739 | 1.554 |
| 2019 | 79 | 2.159 | 0.895 – 3.402 | 1.619 |
| 2018 | 94 | 2.374 | 1.173 – 3.874 | 1.640 |
| 2017 | 79 | 1.930 | 0.867 – 3.470 | 1.929 |
| 2016 | 84 | 2.322 | 0.983 – 3.624 | 1.982 |
| 2015 | 87 | 2.522 | 1.392 – 4.151 | 2.171 |
| 2014 | 84 | 2.428 | 1.151 – 4.213 | 2.229 |
| 2013 | 78 | 2.144 | 1.154 – 3.795 | 2.148 |
| 2012 | 87 | 2.749 | 1.465 – 4.521 | 2.282 |
| 2011 | 82 | 2.457 | 1.419 – 4.472 | 2.254 |
| 2010 | 87 | 2.647 | 1.214 – 5.164 | 2.655 |
| 2009 | 83 | 2.851 | 1.286 – 5.320 | 2.719 |
| 2008 | 79 | 2.391 | 1.118 – 4.409 | 2.148 |
| 2007 | 73 | 2.448 | 1.049 – 5.100 | 2.162 |
| 2006 | 82 | 2.874 | 1.230 – 5.068 | 2.495 |
| 2005 | 81 | 3.732 | 1.466 – 7.063 | 3.113 |
| 2004 | 75 | 3.577 | 1.195 – 6.372 | 3.588 |
| 2003 | 69 | 4.179 | 1.473 – 7.195 | 3.211 |
| 2002 | 68 | 5.229 | 2.730 – 8.866 | 3.225 |
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 → after- Georgia4.751 → 4.144 · 15th → 11th−0.607
Türkiye1.797 → 1.293 · 41st → 40th−0.504- India5.364 → 4.947 · 9th → 5th−0.416
- Serbia2.406 → 2.003 · 34th → 29th−0.403
- Uzbekistan3.591 → 3.199 · 22nd → 18th−0.392
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
Prosperity gap in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
41.362
Average factor incomes must rise by to reach $28 a day
Lowest reading on record
0.406
Average factor incomes must rise by to reach $28 a day
Biggest improvement between editions
−4.437
11.898 → 7.461
Biggest decline between editions
+4.922
3.947 → 8.869
Most improved since first measured
−23.033
26.232 → 3.199
At the top most often
13 of 22
editions, alone at the first-listed end
08The measure
About prosperity gap
The prosperity gap is the average factor by which a country’s incomes would have to be multiplied for everyone to reach a prosperity standard of $28 a day. It weights the poorest most heavily, so unlike a poverty headcount it keeps moving long after extreme poverty has been eliminated.
What the number is: Average factor incomes must rise by to reach $28 a day.
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
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under Development & Human Capital and Poverty & Inequality, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Development & Human CapitalPoverty & InequalityWhich statistics vote, and why
Moves with
Where prosperity gap is higher, these tend to be higher too.
No statistic lines up this closely.
Moves against
Where prosperity gap 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 countries at either end
More from World Bank Group
11Questions
Prosperity gap: questions and answers
Which country has the lowest prosperity gap?
Luxembourg, at 0.406, among the 60 countries compared in 2023.
Which country has the highest prosperity gap?
Uganda, at 12.065, among the 60 countries compared in 2023.
How many countries does the Prosperity Gap 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 prosperity gap?
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 1.754.
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 Prosperity Gap 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 (SI.SPR.PGAP), which rounds every value to one decimal. 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
Prosperity Gap — World Bank Group
Read from the World Bank’s Poverty and Inequality Platform rather than its indicator API (SI.SPR.PGAP), which rounds every value to one decimal.
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 2026-09-10.
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.
- Luxembourg — Michal Osmenda from Brussels, Belgium, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Switzerland — Simon Koopmann derivative work: Jjtkk, CC BY-SA 2.0 de
- Belgium — Gf uip, CC BY-SA 3.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Prosperity gap by country: Prosperity Gap, data from World Bank Group. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/prosperity-gap