Wealth Inequality: South Africa tops the list in 2024

The global economy is greatly concerned about wealth inequality, as evidenced by the wide variations observed in wealth inequality indices among various nations.

According to a Union Bank of Switzerland report, South Africa tops the list with an inequality index score of 82 out of 100, where 0 represents total equality and 100 represents absolute inequality. Since 2008, there has been a jump of 17.7%.

Other nations with exceptionally high scores were Mexico (72) and the United States (75), Brazil (81), and Sweden (75). Belgium, meanwhile, was at the other end of the table with a score of 46 as opposed to 51 in 2008—a difference of minus 10.7%.

Here is the chart (Source: Statista):

Since 2008, North America’s inequality gap has narrowed somewhat; the US has seen a 2.4% decline in inequality during that period. However, inequality has increased throughout much of Eastern and Southern Europe and Asia.

The wealth inequality increased by 16.8% in Brazil and 6.5% in Mexico. India saw an increase of 16.2%, Singapore saw a rise of 22.9%, Indonesia saw a rise of 15.1%, China saw a rise of 7.4%, and Japan saw a rise of 9.4%. Hong Kong and South Korea defy the regional average, showing declines of 5.9% and 8.1%, respectively.

The report states that although inequality is rising in rapidly expanding markets, middle-class economies are seeing faster growth in middle-class income segments than higher-class economies.