High Equality Ranking for India Masks Deeper Gaps

Economists flag data limitations, flawed sampling

- Ruchika Chitravanshi & Shiva Rajora

A recent World Bank report placing India among the most equal countries globally may present a limited view of inequality, with economists suggesting that broader data sets could tell a different story.

According to the report, India's Gini index (or coefficient/ratio), a key measure of inequality, stood at 25.5 in 2022-23, placing the country fourth globally in terms of equality, behind only the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, and Belarus.

The Gini index ranges from 0 to 100, where zero represents perfect equality and 100 indicates extreme inequality, with one individual possessing all income or wealth, or accounting for all consumption.

Such measurements, according to economists, are heavily dependent on methodology. Comparing the top 1 per cent with the bottom 50 per cent of the population, they argue, would reveal far more pronounced disparities in India.