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Data for 1985

Gini Index of Disposable Income (SWIID), 1985

1985, as Frederick Solt’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Gini Index of Disposable Income (SWIID), 1985 covers 73 countries on 2 measures. South Africa is highest, at 60.6; Sweden is lowest, at 20.4. The middle country reads 38.9. Against 1984, 53 values changed (32 up, 21 down), 7 countries joined.

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Gini Index of Disposable Income (SWIID) · Data for 1985

HighestSouth Africa

60.6

LowestSweden

20.4

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the lowest end. A higher value is the worse result.

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Gini Index of Disposable Income (SWIID), 1985, as published. Frederick Solt ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Showing 25 of 73 countries · select a heading to sort

Gini Index of Disposable Income (SWIID), 1985: every country, as published by Frederick Solt, University of Iowa.
derived
1South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa60.63.09
2BotswanaBWASouthern Africa55.73.50
3PeruPERSouth America54.12.58
4BrazilBRASouth America53.70.42
5ZambiaZMBEastern Africa52.83.57
6EswatiniSWZSouthern Africa50.93.76
7GuatemalaGTMCentral America50.02.31
8ChileCHLSouth America49.71.48
9MalawiMWIEastern Africa49.63.60
10KenyaKENEastern Africa49.03.32
11ColombiaCOLSouth America48.62.56
12Puerto RicoPRICaribbean48.33.48
13Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa47.72.19
14PanamaPANCentral America47.41.89
15LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe46.90.58
16MexicoMEXCentral America46.51.72
17SudanSDNNorthern Africa45.44.55
18BarbadosBRBCaribbean45.13.52
19MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia44.92.11
20Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa44.63.86
21IranIRNSouthern Asia44.51.31
22MadagascarMDGEastern Africa44.23.24
23ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia44.02.01
24Trinidad and TobagoTTOCaribbean42.43.22
25NigeriaNGAWestern Africa42.23.55

02In 1985

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline, then the highest and lowest on each other measure.

Highest

  1. 1South Africa60.6
  2. 2Botswana55.7
  3. 3Peru54.1
  4. 4Brazil53.7
  5. 5Zambia52.8

Lowest

  1. 73Sweden20.4
  2. 72Finland20.6
  3. 71Hungary21.9
  4. 70Denmark22.3
  5. 69Belgium23.2

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 38.9. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

  • Standard error of the estimate (Gini points)

    HighestSudan4.55

    LowestUnited States0.39

    Middle country: 1.84

031984 → 1985

Since 1984

What changed between 1984 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

  • +7 / −0countries joined / left
  • 53values changed, of 66 in both
  • 32 · 21rose · fell
  • 13unchanged

Rose most

Fell most

+ Botswana+ Côte d’Ivoire+ Cyprus+ Luxembourg+ Nigeria+ Eswatini+ Tunisia

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

The site’s method
  • One year of the 2026 release

    Every year in this series comes from Frederick Solt’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 1985.

  • 70 distinct values among 73

    Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 2 countries share 42.0. Countries sharing a value share a position too.

  • The position is ours

    Frederick Solt publishes values only. The order here sorts the published values, and the page says so wherever it prints one.

  • Which end is better

    A higher value is the worse result.

  • Nothing missing

    Every one of the 73 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC0 1.0. No conditions at all. Crediting the publisher is still the courteous thing to do.

Cite this edition

Frederick Solt, University of Iowa (1985). Gini Index of Disposable Income (SWIID), 1985 [data set], describing 1985. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/gini-disposable-income/1985

0644 held

Other years

07Questions

Gini Index of Disposable Income (SWIID), 1985: questions and answers

Which country has the highest income inequality after taxes (SWIID) in Gini Index of Disposable Income (SWIID), 1985?

South Africa, at 60.6, of the 73 countries in the file.

What year does Gini Index of Disposable Income (SWIID), 1985 describe?

1985.

How many countries does Gini Index of Disposable Income (SWIID), 1985 cover?

73.

Where can I download Gini Index of Disposable Income (SWIID), 1985?

On this page, as a CSV file holding every value exactly as published, or from the publisher’s own site, linked below.

Is Gini Index of Disposable Income (SWIID), 1985 the newest?

No. The newest held here is Gini Index of Disposable Income (SWIID), 2023.

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