The World Inequality Report 2022 released by Paris-based World Inequality Lab, a global research initiative, pegs India to be among the most unequal countries in the world. While the bottom half of the population in India earns Rs 53,610, the top 10% earns twenty times more at Rs 11,66,520. While the top 10% and top 1% hold respectively 57% and 22% of total national income, the share of the bottom 50% has gone down to 13%. India stands out as a poor and very unequal country, with an affluent elite.
The richest 10% of the global population currently takes 52% of global income, whereas the poorest half of the population earns 8% of it. These averages mask wide disparities both between and within countries. MENA is the most unequal region in the world, Europe has the lowest inequality levels.