OECD Income Distribution Database (IDD): Gini, poverty, income, Methods and Concepts

To benchmark and monitor income inequality and poverty across countries, the OECD relies on a dedicated statistical database: the OECD Income Distribution Database which offers data on levels and trends in Gini coefficients before and after taxes and transfers, average and median household disposable incomes, relative poverty rates and poverty gaps, before and after taxes and transfers, etc. Due to the increasing importance of income inequality and poverty issues in policy discussion, the database is now annually updated. If you would like to be informed by email when the database is updated, please contact ELS-STDIncome.contact@oecd.org.

IDD Database

15 June 2018: Starting from December 2017, the OECD IDD database is no longer updated annually but more frequently, about 3 times a year. New data are available for Costa Rica (income year 2017); Finland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States (income year 2016); Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg and Switzerland (income year 2015). Data have been revised for Netherlands (income years 2011-15). See data:

by Measure (in OECD.Stat)
by Country (in OECD.Stat)
- Metadata: Sources and income years (2-page, .pdf) and Country-specific detailed information for latest year and Wave 7 (71 pages, .xlsx)
Key indicators on income distribution and poverty - latest years (Table in .xlsx)

in OECD Regions (module based on 2010 income data only)
- see Insights (2-page, .pdf) and Data sources and reference years (2-page, .pdf)
in Metropolitan areas
- Income Levels And Inequality in Metropolitan Areas: A Comparative Approach in OECD Countries (working paper, 2016)
- OECD (2016), Making Cities Work for All: Data and Actions for Inclusive Growth

November 2016: Release of OECD Inequality Update 2016 "Income inequality remains high in the face of weak recovery"

6-page report (.pdf)
figures and data (.xlsx)

See also:

Wealth distribution database (WDD) - and:
- Issues note of OECD Conference on wealth inequalities: measurement and policies (April 2018)
- Household wealth inequality across OECD countries: new OECD evidence (OECD Statistics Brief No. 21)

METHODs and concepts

Terms of reference of OECD project on the distribution of household incomes, using:
- 2012 onwards definition (Wave 7)
- definition until 2011 (Wave 6)
What are equivalence scales?
Canberra Group Handbook on Household Income Statistics - see:
- Handbook on household income statistics (Second edition - 2011)
- Report and Recommendations (First edition - 2001)
Meetings of providers of OECD Income Distribution data:
- 18-19 February 2016
- 21-22 February 2013
16-17 March 2009: Joint OECD/University of Maryland International Conference Measuring Poverty, Income Inequality, and Social Exclusion - Lessons from Europe,
Measurement of Low Incomes and Poverty in a Perspective of International Comparisons; Labour Market and Social Policy Occasional Paper No.14 (1994)

OTHER INTERNATIONAL DATABASES RELATED TO INCOME DISTRIBUTION

Income and living conditions in Europe (Eurostat)
Luxembourg Income Study (LIS)
The World Wealth and Income Database (Paris School of Economics)
All The Ginis Dataset (World Bank)
Chartbook of Economic Inequality (Atkinson and Morelli)

Quality reviews

This quality review (December 2012) is in three main parts:
-Part I reports the results of a first self-assessment of different quality dimensions of the OECD Database on Household Income Distribution and Poverty (.pdf)
-Part II assesses the cross-country comparability of the OECD Earnings Distribution Database (.pdf)
-Part III provides detailed country data reviews on income distribution data, for the 34 OECD member countries. These country reviews compare the OECD benchmark series for income distribution and poverty reporting with alternative estimates which are available on a national or international basis - each country separately (.pdf) including revised versions:

See also external Review of the OECD Income Distribution Database - The Journal of Economic Inequality - December 2015, Volume 13, Issue 4, pp 579–602

THE OECD'S "COMPARE YOUR INCOME" WEB TOOL

How much do you earn compared with others in your country? Do you feel rich, poor, or just average? Use this tool and found out how your income really compares.

Social and welfare issues

OECD Income Distribution Database (IDD): Gini, poverty, income, Methods and Concepts