Australia: Income share held by highest 10%

Key figures

Since 1981 it is up 2.6 percentage points from 23.3% in 1981. The World Bank has no value for 27 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

Closest to Australia in the 2020 ranking

• Japan — 2nd of 5: 24.3%
• Albania — 3rd of 5: 22.8%
• Ukraine — 4th of 5: 21.7%

What this measures

Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population indicated by deciles or quintiles.

Limitations: Despite progress in the last decade, the challenges of measuring poverty remain. The timeliness, frequency, quality, and comparability of household surveys need to increase substantially, particularly in the poorest countries. The availability and quality of poverty monitoring data remains low in small states, countries with fragile situations, and low-income countries and even some middle-income countries. The low frequency and lack of comparability of the data available in some countries create uncertainty over the magnitude of poverty reduction. Besides the frequency and timeliness of survey data, other data quality issues arise in measuring household living standards.

All 13 values

Income share held by highest 10% in nearby economies

• China — 28.4% (2022)
• Indonesia — 28.7% (2025)
• Japan — 24.3% (2020)
• Korea, Rep. — 25% (2021)
• Malaysia — 30.9% (2021)
• Mongolia — 24.6% (2022)
• Philippines — 31.6% (2023)
• Thailand — 26% (2024)
• Viet Nam — 28.1% (2022)

More poverty data for Australia

• Income share held by second 20% — 12.4% (2020)
• Income share held by third 20% — 16.5% (2020)
• Income share held by fourth 20% — 22.6% (2020)
• Income share held by highest 20% — 41.3% (2020)
• Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income (%) — 11.3% (2020)
• Income share held by lowest 10% — 2.6% (2020)
• Income share held by lowest 20% — 7.2% (2020)
• Poverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) (% of population) — 0.9% (2020)
• Poverty gap at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) (%) — 0.6% (2020)
• Gini index

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Questions people ask

What is Australia's income share held by highest 10%?

25.9% in 2020, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1981?

It is up 2.6 percentage points from 23.3% in 1981. The highest value was 27.4% in 2008 and the lowest 23.3% in 1981.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are mostly from the Luxembourg Income Study database..

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SI.DST.10TH.10, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are mostly from the Luxembourg Income Study database. Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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