‘India’s top 1% of population holds 22% of national income’

New Delhi, Dec. 7: India stands out as a poor and very unequal country, with the top 1 per cent of the population holding more than one-fifth of the total national income in 2021 and the bottom half just 13 per cent, according to a report.

The report, titled ‘World Inequality Report 2022’, has been authored by Lucas Chancel, co-director of the World Inequality Lab, and coordinated by several experts, including French economist Thomas Piketty.

It further said India is now among the most unequal countries in the world.

The report pointed out that the average national income of the Indian adult population is `204,200. While the bottom 50 per cent earns `53,610, the top 10 per cent earns more than 20 times (`1,166,520).

“While the top 10 per cent and top 1 per cent hold respectively 57 per cent and 22 per cent of total national income, the bottom 50 per cent share has gone down to 13 per cent. India stands out as a poor and very unequal country, with an affluent elite,” it said.

According to the report, average household wealth in India stands at `983,010.

It observed that the deregulation and liberalisation policies implemented since the mid-1980s have led to “one of the most extreme increases in income and wealth inequality observed in the world”.

It also said gender inequalities in India are very high.

“The female labor income share is equal to 18 per cent. This is significantly lower than the average in Asia (21 per cent, excluding China),” the report said, adding that this value is one of the lowest in the world, slightly higher than the average share in Middle East (15 per cent).

— PTI A child sitting in a bucket being evacuated by a man and a policeman from a flooded area of Verma Nagar due to the overflowing Ariyar river following heavy rains in Trichy district on Tuesday.