According to the CIA’s World Factbook Gini Index, South Africa has the highest wealth inequality or wealth gap worldwide.
What is wealth inequality?
The wealth gap in a country is a measure of the distribution of wealth. It is essentially the difference between the richest of the rich and the poorest of the poor. Wealth inequality is closely related to income inequality, i.e. the money people earn. However, wealth inequality includes not just income, but also the value of bank accounts, stocks and investments, homes, and personal possessions such as cars, jewellery, artwork, and other valuables and assets.
According to the World Population Review, research suggests that globalisation has reduced the global divide between rich and poor between nations. However, it has increased wealth inequality within nations. Although there are exceptions, developing countries are typically characterised by greater inequality than developed countries.
Top 10 countries with biggest divide
The Italian statistician Corrado Gini developed the Gini index, or Gini coefficient. It is a statistical measure of wealth distribution that is used to gauge economic inequality by measuring income distribution. According to the World Bank Gini index, the following are the top 10 countries with the highest wealth inequality:
1. South Africa
2. Namibia
3. Colombia
4. Eswatini
5. Hong Kong
6. Botswana
7. Belize
8. Brazil
9. Zambia
10. Angola
South Africa’s divide between the rich and poor has increased over the years. The top 1% of earners take home almost 20% of income and the top 10% take home 65%. This means that 90% of South African earners take home only 35% of all income in the country.
The wealth gap in Africa
In many African countries, income inequality stems from their economic systems, where a few wealthy sectors create a lot of wealth, but this wealth only benefits a small group of people. As a result, most workers remain stuck in low-paying jobs that offer little financial security.
This wealth gap is often made worse by poor education systems and also corrupt or oppressive governments. Furthermore, some African nations’ economic development is hindered by a lack of necessities like arable land and clean water.
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