India’s 1% controls 40% of wealth, rivaling inequality levels in South Africa, Russia

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Just 1 percent of Indians hold about 40 percent of the country’s total wealth, placing India among the third most unequal societies globally after South Africa and Russia, according to the latest World Inequality Report.

Only a few countries show sharper disparities: in South Africa, the richest 1 percent controls nearly 54 percent of total wealth; in Russia, more than 47 percent; in Mexico, Colombia and Brazil, about 38 percent each; and in the US, 35 percent.

By contrast, inequality is significantly lower in the Netherlands, where the top 1 percent owns just 14 percent of total wealth, followed by Indonesia at 20 percent, Denmark and the UK at nearly 21 percent, Italy at 22 percent and New Zealand at 23 percent.

In India, the study finds that inequality has barely shifted over the past decade despite strong economic growth. The top 10 percent of earners capture about 58 percent of national income, while the bottom 50 percent receive only 15 percent. Wealth concentration is even more pronounced: the richest 10 percent hold around 65 percent of total wealth, and the top 1 percent alone accounts for 40 percent.

The income gap between the top 10 percent and the bottom half has remained largely unchanged between 2014 and 2024. Average annual income per capita stands at about €6,200 (PPP), and average wealth per adult is around €28,000 (PPP). Female labour participation remains one of the lowest in the world at 15.7 percent, showing virtually no improvement over the past decade.

The report warns that the wealthiest contribute disproportionately little to public finances, with effective tax rates declining sharply for billionaires and centi-millionaires. This undermines tax equity and limits funding for education, healthcare and climate action. Inequality, it notes, extends beyond income and wealth into gender, opportunity and climate.

Women receive just over a quarter of global labour income, even though surveys show they work longer hours when unpaid labour is included. Factoring in domestic and care work, women earn only about one-third as much per working hour as men. Opportunity gaps are equally stark: per capita income in Europe is nearly ten times higher than in Sub-Saharan Africa, while public education spending per student is around thirty-five times greater. “Today’s inequality of opportunity fuels tomorrow’s inequality of outcomes,” the report said.