The top 1% of Indians own 40.1% of the nation's wealth, higher than the 37% global average. This makes India one of the world's most unequal countries, according to the World Inequality Report. By contrast, the top 1% own 24% of the country's wealth in Pakistan, and 23.9% in Bangladesh. Tiny groups of wealthy elites (top 1%) are using their money to buy mass media to manipulate public opinion for their own benefit. They are paying politicians for highly favorable laws and policies to further consolidate their power. It is a phenomenon known as "elite capture".
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| Wealth Inequality. Source: World Inequality Report 2026 |
"Extreme wealth inequality is persistent and increasing" in all parts of the world, says the report published by World Inequality Lab of the Paris School of Economics. This has serious economic, political and social implications. It is undermining democracies and empowering billionaires at the expense of the common people, including the middle class (middle 40%) and the poor (bottom 50%).
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| Income Inequality. Source: World Inequality Report 2026 |
Income inequality is trending in the same way as wealth inequality. The income of the top 1% of Indians stands at 22.6% of the national income. The income of the top 1% of Pakistanis is 16.2% of the country's income, significantly lower than the 20% global average. The income and wealth distribution in Bangladesh is similar to Pakistan's.
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| Widening Income Gap in India. Source: WIR2026 |
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| Persistent Income Gap in Pakistan. Source: WIR2026 |
The global average monthly income is 1200 Euros but there are huge differences among various regions of the world. The South and South East Asia region remains among the poorest, but its average monthly income of 600 Euros is twice that of sub-Saharan Africa. North America's monthly income of 3,800 Euros is the highest while sub-Saharan Africa's 300 Euros is the lowest in the world.
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| Regional Income Disparities. Source: WIR2026 |
The report documents how the global financial system reinforces inequality. Wealthy economies continue to benefit from an “exorbitant privilege”: each year, around 1% of global GDP (approximately three times as much as development aid) flows from poorer to richer nations through net foreign income transfers associated with persistent excess yields and lower interest payments on rich-country liabilities. Reversing this dynamic is central to any credible strategy for global equity.
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6 comments:
I don’t think or I don’t know if Hindu faith has any commandments about rights of the poor, obligations of the rich as we have in Islam. Not saying Muslims are following those commandments.
India’s caste ridden society is inherently unequal. The economic inequality is the lowest among Indian Muslims, far lower than among various Hindu castes. Average MPCE for lower caste Muslims is Rs. 2,164 while it is Rs. 2,180 for upper caste Muslims (Ashrafs). Inequality among Hindu castes is the highest. Lower caste Hindus average MPCE is only Rs. 2,095, far lower than Rs. 3,321 for upper caste Hindus.
http://www.riazhaq.com/2024/01/indian-muslims-poorest-group-in-modis.html
A religion that is based on such a cast system, inherent inequality in human value, cannot promote equalization even as an ideal!
The Untouchables are forever meant to be lowly, subservient and Brahmins are always masters. That is the way Bhagwan created this universe.
While not discounting the role of caste and religion in the income and wealth disparities in India, I think that the greater disparities seen in statistics here in comparison to Pakistan and Bangladesh probably has got more to do with the relatively larger concentration of wealthy upper class in the country including industrial families, movie stars (not just from Bollywood but also from other Indian-language film industries), influential political families etc.
For instance, the estimated combined wealth of Mukesh Ambani ($108 billion in 2025) and Gautam Adani ($64 billion in 2025) alone is on a scale that is nearly half the total GDP of Pakistan! To quote another example, as per 2025 Forbes list as well as 2025 Hurun Global Rich list, India was ranked 3rd behind US and China for the number of billionaires with estimates ranging between 205 (Forbes) and 284 (Hurun). This is again much greater than the estimated numbers for Pakistan (15) and Bangladesh (0). India also recorded some 868,660 millionaires as well as per 2024 count, though I couldn't find the numbers for Pakistan and Bangladesh.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_billionaires
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_millionaires
Obviously, having such disproportionate concentration of wealth among a few individuals and families in a relatively lower income country like India would heavily skew the income and wealth distribution even without factors like caste or religion coming into play.
While Brofessor sb has rightly pointed out that India has higher inequality than Pakistan, he has cleverly omitted some other factoids. The bottom 50% of Indian population has an average PPP income of 940 Euros and average wealth of 1801 Euros. By contrast, the bottom Pakistan has an average PPP income of 816 Euros and wealth of 736. In short, the poorest Indians are better off than the poorest Pakistanis. Hopefully Brofessor sb will admit that Pakistan has failed economically. Regards
Anon: "In short, the poorest Indians are better off than the poorest Pakistanis. Hopefully Brofessor sb will admit that Pakistan has failed economically"
It is now widely understood that India's official GDP is highly exaggerated. IMF has questioned it and Indian economists like Prof Arun Kumar have said India's actual GDP is as low as 50% of the official GDP, mainly because of the way the rapidly declining unorganized sector is overestimated by Indian officials.
https://www.riazhaq.com/2025/11/imf-questions-modis-gdp-data-is-indias.html
On the other hand, Pakistan's unorganized GDP is significantly underestimated. It can be seen in the size of Pakistan's cash economy (currency in circulation) which is much larger as a percentage of the total economy than in India and Bangladesh.
https://propakistani.pk/2025/10/10/pakistans-real-economy-is-near-1-trillion-says-finance-minister-aurangzeb/
“Pakistan’s recorded economy stands at US$411 billion, but nearly half remains undocumented,” the (finance) minister (Aurngzeb) said. “The real size of our economy is closer to a trillion dollars.
https://www.riazhaq.com/2021/12/has-bangladesh-really-left-india-and.html
"Pakistan’s currency in circulation reaches Rs10.8 trillion ($38.5 billion) , up 27.4% of total money supply"
https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2025/08/28/pakistans-currency-in-circulation-reaches-rs10-8-trillion-up-27-4-of-total-money-supply/
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