Compare countries: income inequality over time
Pick two to four countries and compare their Gini coefficients (0 = perfect equality, 100 = one person has everything). In the latest year, the United States sits near 39 and Sweden near 29 on disposable income.
Data table (text alternative) for the selected countries
| Year | United States | Sweden | Brazil |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 32.9 | 45.5 | 28.9 |
| 1965 | 33.1 | 41.7 | 37.7 |
| 1970 | 32.4 | 33.7 | 46.5 |
| 1975 | 31.9 | 22.5 | 52.0 |
| 1980 | 31.1 | 20.3 | 53.3 |
| 1985 | 34.1 | 20.4 | 53.7 |
| 1990 | 34.6 | 22.4 | 56.9 |
| 1995 | 36.7 | 22.8 | 56.7 |
| 2000 | 37.0 | 25.1 | 54.3 |
| 2005 | 38.5 | 24.5 | 50.1 |
| 2010 | 37.4 | 27.0 | 46.7 |
| 2015 | 38.4 | 28.3 | 44.8 |
| 2020 | 37.8 | 28.3 | 45.8 |
Data as of: Standardized World Income Inequality Database (Frederick Solt) (swiid_summary.csv (GitHub mirror), latest year 2025) ·
How to read this chart
Higher is more unequal. The shaded band is SWIID's uncertainty from harmonizing different national sources — differences smaller than the bands shouldn't be over-read. Disposable income means after taxes and transfers. Background: how inequality is measured; the dataset paper: Solt (2020).
Methodology
Disposable-income (post-tax, post-transfer) Gini on a 0–100 scale, with SWIID's standard-error band reflecting the uncertainty introduced by harmonizing national sources. Market-income Gini shown where available. SWIID standardizes differing national definitions (household vs. individual, gross vs. net); see Solt (2020).
Coverage: 199 countries, 1960–2025. SWIID releases roughly annually; we re-sync at least every 120 days. License: CC BY 4.0. Download the data (JSON).
Data table (text alternative)
The data table for the currently selected countries is below the chart.