Income share of the richest 20% — all countries

Income share of the richest 20% — Mauritania

Income share of the richest 20% in Mauritania in 2019 — 40%. Ranked 32 in the world out of 78. Since 1987, the indicator has fallen by 8.6 pp.

2019 40% −0.2 pp vs 2014
World rank 32of 78
Period maximum 55.6%1993
Period minimum 40%2019

Trend over time

1987–2019 · % of income

Income share of the richest 20% — Mauritania, 1987–201940455055601987199119951999200320072011201520191987: 48.6%1993: 55.6%1995: 44.5%2000: 45.7%2004: 47.4%2008: 42.4%2014: 40.2%2019: 40%
Change over the period: −8.6 pp Annual average: -0.27 pp
Income share of the richest 20% — Mauritania, by year Mauritania All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2019 40
2014 40.2
2008 42.4
2004 47.4
2000 45.7
1995 44.5
1993 55.6
1987 48.6

About the indicator

The share of total income or consumption that goes to the richest twenty percent of the population. Under complete equality it would be twenty percent; in the most unequal countries of Latin America and Southern Africa it comes to more than sixty. The ratio of this share to the share of the poorest quintile — the quintile ratio, S80/S20 — was historically the first measure of inequality, and it speaks more clearly than the Gini index about the gap between the poles.

Important: There are no aggregates for country groups for the same reason as with the Gini index: the quintile of a group is not a union of national quintiles. Household surveys systematically understate the incomes of the richest, so real inequality is higher than measured.

Source: World Development Indicators (World Bank), license CC BY 4.0.