The way income and wealth are distributed across society determines the extent to which individuals have equal access to the goods and services produced within a national economy. One important measure of income distribution is the ratio of total income received by the 20 % of the population with the highest income to that received by the 20 % of the population with the lowest income, known as the income quintile share ratio. In 2017, the income quintile share ratio in the European Union (EU) was 5.1.
In the EU Member States, on the basis of this measure, Czechia and Slovenia had the lowest income inequality in 2017 (3.4). These were followed by three other Member States with ratios below 4.0: Finland (3.5), Slovakia (3.5), and Belgium (3.8).
In contrast, income inequalities were much higher (above 6.0) in Greece (6.1), Latvia (6.3), Romania (6.5), Spain (6.6), Lithuania (7.3) and highest in Bulgaria (8.2).
The source dataset with the latest available figures can be found here.
For more information on income inequality and other indicators of material deprivation:
- Statistics Explained article on quality of life indicators – material living conditions
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