Income share held by highest 20% - Country Ranking

Definition: Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population indicated by deciles or quintiles. Percentage shares by quintile may not sum to 100 because of rounding.

Source: World Bank, Development Research Group. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For mor

See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison

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Rank Country Value Year
1 South Africa 68.20 2014
2 Namibia 63.70 2015
3 Zambia 61.30 2015
4 Central African Republic 60.90 2008
5 Suriname 60.50 1999
6 Eswatini 60.20 2016
7 Mozambique 59.50 2014
8 Botswana 58.50 2015
9 Colombia 58.30 2020
10 Belize 57.70 1999
11 Angola 55.60 2018
12 St. Lucia 55.40 2016
13 Brazil 54.70 2020
14 Costa Rica 54.40 2020
14 Panama 54.40 2019
16 Burkina Faso 54.30 2018
17 Congo 53.70 2011
18 Guatemala 53.60 2014
19 Ecuador 52.30 2020
20 Honduras 52.20 2019
21 Nicaragua 52.10 2014
22 Cameroon 51.70 2014
23 Chile 51.60 2020
23 Jamaica 51.60 2004
25 Mexico 51.20 2020
26 Zimbabwe 51.10 2017
27 Rwanda 50.80 2016
28 Comoros 50.40 2014
29 Guyana 50.20 1998
30 Lesotho 49.80 2017
31 Venezuela 49.50 2006
31 Uganda 49.50 2019
33 Madagascar 49.40 2012
34 Paraguay 49.30 2020
35 Philippines 49.20 2018
36 Peru 49.10 2020
37 Bolivia 49.00 2020
38 Togo 48.90 2018
39 Cabo Verde 48.70 2015
40 Ghana 48.60 2016
41 Dem. Rep. Congo 48.40 2012
42 Tanzania 48.10 2018
43 Turkey 48.00 2019
44 São Tomé and Principe 47.90 2017
45 Djibouti 47.60 2017
46 Iran 47.50 2019
46 Turkmenistan 47.50 1998
46 Kenya 47.50 2015
49 Argentina 47.30 2020
49 Papua New Guinea 47.30 2009
49 Malaysia 47.30 2015
52 Sri Lanka 47.20 2016
53 Haiti 47.10 2012
54 Morocco 47.00 2013
54 United States 47.00 2019
56 Bulgaria 46.60 2019
57 Dominican Republic 46.50 2020
58 Lao PDR 46.40 2018
58 Samoa 46.40 2013
58 Tuvalu 46.40 2010
61 Burundi 46.30 2013
62 Malawi 46.20 2019
62 Uruguay 46.20 2020
64 Trinidad and Tobago 45.90 1992
65 Senegal 45.80 2018
66 Niger 45.70 2018
67 El Salvador 45.60 2019
68 Tonga 45.40 2015
68 Benin 45.40 2018
70 China 45.30 2019
70 Syrian Arab Republic 45.30 2003
72 Chad 45.20 2018
73 Indonesia 44.90 2021
74 Yemen 44.70 2014
74 Côte d'Ivoire 44.70 2018
76 Mauritius 44.60 2017
76 Solomon Islands 44.60 2012
78 Bhutan 44.40 2017
78 India 44.40 2011
78 Gabon 44.40 2017
81 Sierra Leone 44.20 2018
82 Russia 44.00 2020
83 Mali 43.90 2018
84 Israel 43.80 2018
85 The Gambia 43.60 2015
86 Uzbekistan 43.40 2003
87 Guinea-Bissau 43.00 2018
87 Ethiopia 43.00 2015
89 Vietnam 42.90 2018
90 Liberia 42.80 2016
90 Lithuania 42.80 2019
92 Thailand 42.70 2020
92 Nauru 42.70 2012
94 Sudan 42.40 2014
94 Nigeria 42.40 2018
94 Jordan 42.40 2010
97 Montenegro 42.30 2018
98 United Kingdom 42.10 2017
99 Latvia 42.00 2019
100 Australia 41.80 2018
101 Tajikistan 41.70 2015
102 Nepal 41.50 2010
102 Italy 41.50 2018
102 Georgia 41.50 2020
105 Luxembourg 41.40 2019
105 Bangladesh 41.40 2016
107 Serbia 41.20 2019
108 Japan 41.10 2013
109 Egypt 41.00 2017
110 Mongolia 40.90 2018
110 Portugal 40.90 2019
110 Tunisia 40.90 2015
113 France 40.80 2018
113 Switzerland 40.80 2018
115 Bosnia and Herzegovina 40.70 2011
116 Canada 40.60 2017
116 Spain 40.60 2019
118 Romania 40.40 2019
119 Mauritania 40.20 2014
120 Cyprus 40.10 2019
120 Greece 40.10 2019
122 Lebanon 40.00 2011
123 Myanmar 39.90 2017
123 Germany 39.90 2018
123 Vanuatu 39.90 2019
126 Ireland 39.70 2018
127 Pakistan 39.60 2018
128 Malta 39.40 2019
128 Fiji 39.40 2019
130 Albania 39.20 2019
131 Korea 39.10 2016
131 Seychelles 39.10 2018
133 Estonia 38.90 2019
134 North Macedonia 38.80 2018
135 Poland 38.60 2018
136 Iraq 38.50 2012
136 Kyrgyz Republic 38.50 2020
138 Timor-Leste 38.40 2014
139 Austria 38.20 2019
139 Guinea 38.20 2018
141 Netherlands 38.00 2019
142 Kazakhstan 37.90 2018
143 Hungary 37.80 2019
143 Azerbaijan 37.80 2005
145 Sweden 37.50 2019
146 Kiribati 37.40 2019
147 Denmark 37.30 2019
148 Algeria 37.20 2011
149 Finland 37.10 2019
150 Croatia 37.00 2019
151 Norway 36.70 2019
152 Belgium 36.50 2019
153 Moldova 36.20 2019
154 Iceland 35.90 2017
154 Ukraine 35.90 2020
156 Czech Republic 35.70 2019
157 Armenia 35.60 2020
158 Belarus 34.80 2020
158 United Arab Emirates 34.80 2018
160 Slovenia 34.60 2019
161 Slovak Republic 32.80 2019

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Development Relevance: The World Bank Group’s goal of promoting shared prosperity has been defined as fostering income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the welfare distribution in every country. Income distribution data and the Gini coefficient measure inequality in income or consumption and important indicators for measuring shared prosperity.

Limitations and Exceptions: Despite progress in the last decade, the challenges of measuring poverty remain. The timeliness, frequency, quality, and comparability of household surveys need to increase substantially, particularly in the poorest countries. The availability and quality of poverty monitoring data remains low in small states, countries with fragile situations, and low-income countries and even some middle-income countries. The low frequency and lack of comparability of the data available in some countries create uncertainty over the magnitude of poverty reduction. Besides the frequency and timeliness of survey data, other data quality issues arise in measuring household living standards. The surveys ask detailed questions on sources of income and how it was spent, which must be carefully recorded by trained personnel. Income is generally more difficult to measure accurately, and consumption comes closer to the notion of living standards. And income can vary over time even if living standards do not. But consumption data are not always available: the latest estimates reported here use consumption data for about two-thirds of countries. However, even similar surveys may not be strictly comparable because of differences in timing or in the quality and training of enumerators. Comparisons of countries at different levels of development also pose a potential problem because of differences in the relative importance of the consumption of nonmarket goods. The local market value of all consumption in kind (including own production, particularly important in underdeveloped rural economies) should be included in total consumption expenditure but may not be. Most survey data now include valuations for consumption or income from own production, but valuation methods vary.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Inequality in the distribution of income is reflected in the share of income or consumption accruing to a portion of the population ranked by income or consumption levels. The portions ranked lowest by personal income receive the smallest shares of total income. Data on the distribution of income or consumption come from nationally representative household surveys. Where the original data from the household survey were available, they have been used to directly calculate the income or consumption shares by quintile. Otherwise, shares have been estimated from the best available grouped data. The distribution data have been adjusted for household size, providing a more consistent measure of per capita income or consumption. No adjustment has been made for spatial differences in cost of living within countries, because the data needed for such calculations are generally unavailable. For further details on the estimation method for low- and middle-income economies, see Ravallion and Chen (1996). Survey year is the year in which the underlying household survey data were collected or, when the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the year in which most of the data were collected. Percentage shares by quintile may not sum to 100 because of rounding.

Unit of Measure: %

Periodicity: Annual

General Comments: The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than one thousand six hundred household surveys across 164 countries in six regions and 25 other high income countries (indu