China: Income share held by lowest 10%

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2022, China's income share held by lowest 10% did not change 0 percentage points on 2021 (from 3.1% to 3.1%).

Across the 11 yearly changes before that (2011 to 2021), the average change was +0.1 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.14 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.7 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 0.4 percentage points in 2013 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.1 percentage points in 2017. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2013 to 2022 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.08 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 88% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about 3.43% for 2025. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2020 to 2022 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 0.08%, against 0.3% for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

Closest to China in the 2022 ranking

• Bangladesh — 1st of 9: 3.7%
• Mongolia — 2nd of 9: 3.4%
• Canada — 4th of 9: 2.9%
• Viet Nam — 5th of 9: 2.6%
• Germany — 6th of 9: 2.3%

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 23 values

Income share held by lowest 10% in nearby economies

• Australia — 2.6% (2020)
• Indonesia — 3.5% (2025)
• Japan — 2.3% (2020)
• Korea, Rep. — 2.9% (2021)
• Malaysia — 2.3% (2021)
• Mongolia — 3.4% (2022)
• Philippines — 2.9% (2023)
• Thailand — 3.4% (2024)
• Viet Nam — 2.6% (2022)

More poverty data for China

• Income share held by second 20% — 11.4% (2022)
• Income share held by third 20% — 15.7% (2022)
• Income share held by fourth 20% — 21.9% (2022)
• Income share held by highest 20% — 43.7% (2022)
• Income share held by highest 10% — 28.4% (2022)
• Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income (%) — 12.2% (2022)
• Income share held by lowest 20% — 7.3% (2022)
• Poverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) (% of population) — 0% (2022)
• Poverty gap at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) (%) — 0% (2022)
• Gini index

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is China's income share held by lowest 10%?

3.1% in 2022, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1981?

It is down 0.6 percentage points from 3.7% in 1981. The highest value was 3.8% in 1984 and the lowest 2% in 2010.

Is the latest change in income share held by lowest 10% unusual for China?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SI.DST.FRST.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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