Gini index (income or consumption)
Definition
Measures how far the distribution of income (or consumption) among individuals departs from a perfectly equal distribution. 0 means perfect equality; 100 means one person has all income. Computed by the World Bank (Poverty and Inequality Platform) from household surveys; for Brazil, PNAD and the Continuous PNAD.
- Formula
- G = 1 − 2·∫₀¹ L(p) dp, where L(p) is the Lorenz curve; multiplied by 100.
- Unit
- index (0 to 100)
- License
- CC-BY-4.0
Gini index (income or consumption)
- Brazil
- Argentina
- Chile
- Colombia
- Mexico
- Gini index (income or consumption)
- Source: World Bank — World Development Indicators · Source version: 2026-10-08 · Collected on: 2026-11-01 · License: CC-BY-4.0
· Paper behind the metric: Atkinson, A
Series breaks: 2012: Brazil: PNAD replaced by the Continuous PNAD. Levels are not directly comparable. 2020: Brazil: in 2020–2021 income comes from the Continuous PNAD 5th visit (pandemic), not the 1st. 2022: Brazil: return to the Continuous PNAD 1st visit.
Download data (CSV) · View the code: collection code · chart.ts
View the data as a table
| Year | Brazil | Argentina | Chile | Colombia | Mexico |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | – | 40.8 | – | 55.1 | – |
| 1981 | 57.9 | – | – | – | – |
| 1982 | 58.4 | – | – | – | – |
| 1983 | 58.9 | – | – | – | – |
| 1984 | 58.3 | – | – | – | 48.5 |
| 1985 | 55.5 | – | – | – | – |
| 1986 | 58.4 | 42.8 | – | – | – |
| 1987 | 59.6 | 45.3 | 56.2 | – | – |
| 1988 | 61.4 | – | – | 53.1 | – |
| 1989 | 63.2 | – | – | 52.8 | 50.1 |
| 1990 | 60.5 | – | 57.2 | – | – |
| 1991 | – | 46.8 | – | 51.3 | – |
| 1992 | 53.1 | 45.5 | 54.8 | 51.3 | 52.3 |
| 1993 | 60.1 | 44.8 | – | – | – |
| 1994 | – | 45.9 | 56.4 | – | 53.4 |
| 1995 | 59.5 | 48.9 | – | – | – |
| 1996 | 59.8 | 49.5 | 54.9 | 56.8 | 52.0 |
| 1997 | 59.8 | 49.1 | – | – | – |
| 1998 | 59.6 | 50.7 | 55.5 | – | 53.3 |
| 1999 | 59.0 | 49.8 | – | 58.5 | – |
| 2000 | – | 51.0 | 52.8 | 58.4 | 53.4 |
| 2001 | 58.4 | 53.3 | – | 57.3 | – |
| 2002 | 58.1 | 53.8 | – | 56.0 | 50.6 |
| 2003 | 57.6 | 51.0 | 51.5 | 53.6 | – |
| 2004 | 56.5 | 48.5 | – | 55.0 | 50.3 |
| 2005 | 56.3 | 47.8 | – | 53.9 | 50.9 |
| 2006 | 55.6 | 46.4 | 47.7 | – | 49.7 |
| 2007 | 54.9 | 46.3 | – | – | – |
| 2008 | 54.0 | 45.0 | – | 55.0 | 50.8 |
| 2009 | 53.7 | 43.8 | 47.4 | 54.1 | – |
| 2010 | – | 43.7 | – | 54.4 | 47.7 |
| 2011 | 52.9 | 42.7 | 46.9 | 53.3 | – |
| 2012 | 53.4 † | 41.4 | – | 53.6 | 49.6 |
| 2013 | 52.7 | 41.1 | 46.8 | 53.5 | – |
| 2014 | 52.1 | 41.8 | – | 53.6 | 48.9 |
| 2015 | 51.9 | – | 45.3 | 52.0 | – |
| 2016 | 53.4 | 42.3 | – | 51.7 | 46.9 |
| 2017 | 53.3 | 41.4 | 45.3 | 50.9 | – |
| 2018 | 53.9 | 41.7 | – | 51.6 | 46.0 |
| 2019 | 53.5 | 43.3 | – | 52.5 | – |
| 2020 | 48.8 † | 42.7 | 47.0 | 54.4 | 44.6 |
| 2021 | 52.9 | 42.4 | – | 55.1 | – |
| 2022 | 51.9 † | 40.7 | 43.2 | 54.8 | 43.5 |
| 2023 | 51.5 | 42.4 | – | 54.6 | – |
| 2024 | 50.3 | 42.4 | 43.0 | 54.4 | 42.6 |
Criticisms of the metric
- Household surveys under-capture top incomes. Using income tax data, top-income concentration in Brazil is much higher and more stable than PNAD suggests (Medeiros, Souza and Castro, 2015).
- A single number hides where change happened: Gini is more sensitive to changes in the middle of the distribution than at the tails (Atkinson, 1970).
- Brazil uses income; many countries use consumption, which tends to be less unequal. Direct international comparisons must account for this.
Series breaks
- 2012 (BRA): Brazil: PNAD replaced by the Continuous PNAD. Levels are not directly comparable.
- 2020 (BRA): Brazil: in 2020–2021 income comes from the Continuous PNAD 5th visit (pandemic), not the 1st.
- 2022 (BRA): Brazil: return to the Continuous PNAD 1st visit.
References
- Atkinson, A. B. (1970). On the measurement of inequality. Journal of Economic Theory, 2(3), 244–263. doi:10.1016/0022-0531(70)90039-6
- Medeiros, M., Souza, P. H. G. F., & Castro, F. A. (2015). O topo da distribuição de renda no Brasil: primeiras estimativas com dados tributários e comparação com pesquisas domiciliares (2006–2012). Dados, 58(1). doi:10.1590/00115258201537
- World Bank. Poverty and Inequality Platform — Methodology Handbook. https://datanalytics.worldbank.org/PIP-Methodology/