Gini Index: Philippines has the world’s 9th worst gap between rich and poor

The Philippines has one of the worst cases of income inequality in the world, according to Credit Suisse in its annual global wealth report.

The Philippines scored 83.7 percent on the Gini Index which is ninth worst in the world. The only other Asian country in the Top 10 is Thailand at No. 4.

Credit Suisse said wealth inequality has been rising globally in the last decade with the share of the world’s Top one percent in global wealth is close to coming back to its level in 2000 at 47 percent.

The Philippines boasts of having one of the most number of billionaires in Southeast Asia but also one of the largest number of people living below the poverty line despite spectacular economic growth for over a decade. Former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Cielito Habito has blamedd this on the concentration of economic growth in Luzon, specifically Metro Manila which accounted for nearly 40 percent of gross domestic product.

Here are the Top 10 countries with worst income gap in the world based on the Gini coefficient:

1) Netherlands 90.2 percent
2) Russia 87.9 percent
3) Sweden 86.7 percent
4) United States 85.2 percent
5) Brazil 84.9 percent
6) Ukraine 84.7 percent
7) Thailand 84.6 percent
8) Denmark 83.8 percent
9) Philippines 83.7 percent
10) Saudi Arabia 83.4 percent

The Top 10 countries with the best distribution of wealth in the world are:

0 Countries With The Lowest Amount Of Income Inequality (Based On Gini Index)

1) Turkmenistan 63 percent
2) Japan 62.6 percent
3) Belarus 62.1 percent
4) Eritrea 62.1 percent
5) Ethiopia 62 percent
6) Korea 60.6 percent
7) Belgium 60.3 percent
8) Myanmar 59.7 percent
9) Timor-Leste 56.5 percent
10) Slovakia 49.8 percent

According to Investopedia, a country in which every resident has the same income would have an income Gini coefficient of 0 percent. A country in which one resident earned all the income, while everyone else earned nothing, would have an income Gini coefficient of 100 percent.