Income Inequality In China
From 1980 to 2012 china s gini coefficient increased from 0 30 to 0 55 surpassing the u s.
Income inequality in china. Location within the country families lineage and hukou home registration play a vital role in individuals income. Sonali jain chandra published a striking chart on income inequality in china on the imf blog which is based on a recently issued working paper it shows that the gini coefficient has risen by 15 points since 1990 to 50. We document a rapid increase in income inequality in china s recent past capitalizing on newly available survey data collected by several chinese university survey organizations. Causes and policy responses.
As china experienced rapid economic growth in the mid 1980s it also faced an accompanying downside. Income inequality in china. That is a big change even though some increase in inequality could have been expected as the level of development improved. These are fundamentally of even greater concern as they sow the seeds for wider income inequality in the future and delink economic outcomes from an individual s efforts.
This paper reviews the historical trends and patterns of income. Corrected estimates combine survey fiscal wealth and national accounts data. Today even while the economy slows income inequality remains high in. Raw estimates rely only on self reported survey data.
Despite significant progress china also faces considerable inequality in opportunities. Income inequality in china 1978 2015. Another element is the swift economic expansion that has overtaken the country which many view as a necessity for the country s. Since the 1980s income inequality in china has risen at a faster pace than in the united states.
Income inequality is due to many systemic factors. The world bank considers a coefficient above 0 40 to represent severe income. China s gini coefficient for income a widely used measure of inequality was 0 49 in 2012 according to the report. Inequality of opportunities such as access to education health and financial services.
7 facts about inequality in china. By now china s income inequality not only surpasses that of the united states by a large margin but also ranks among the highest in the world especially in comparison with countries with comparable or higher. The phenomenal economic growth in china has been accompanied by a rapid increase in income inequality.