Economy 101- The Gini Index

For a specific country, the Gini index measures the degree of inequality in the distribution of family income. The more egalitarian a country's income distribution is, the lower is its Gini index.

On the attached table, back in 2012, with a Gini index of 23.7, Slovenia represented the country with the most equal distribution of income in the world. If income were distributed with perfect equality the index would be zero.

The more unequal a country's income distribution, the higher its Gini index; on that same table, the worst of the worst is Lesotho, a country landlocked in the middle of South Africa with a Gini index of 63.2 (this was back in 1995.

Since that time, the index might have changed for the better or the worst). If income were distributed with absolute inequality, the index would be 100.

On the chart, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, China, the US and Russia aren't doing too well either.