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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Riaz Haq's Youtube Channel
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.
ReplyDeleteIndia’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.
ReplyDeletehttp://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!
ReplyDeleteThe 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.
ReplyDeleteFor 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
ReplyDeleteAnon: "In short, the poorest Indians are better off than the poorest Pakistanis. Hopefully Brofessor sb will admit that Pakistan has failed economically"
ReplyDeleteIt 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/
Countries with most cash use in world in 2025: Pakistan in top 10; know where India ranks
ReplyDeleteList of top 10 countries with most cash usage in 2025: At the top of the list is Myanmar, where cash is used for about 98 per cent of everyday transactions.
https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/top-10-listing/countries-with-most-cash-use-in-world-in-2025-10361431/
With around 90 per cent of everyday transactions being performed in cash, Pakistan is likewise at the top of the list. Here, the sizable informal economy is crucial. Cash is preferred by many daily wage workers and small business owners, in part to avoid complex banking procedures and occasionally to avoid paying taxes.
How much Cash do Indians use in 2025?
Approximately 70 per cent of all transactions in India involve cash, despite the country not ranking among the top 10. However, India is notable for spearheading the revolution in digital payments. With just a smartphone, millions of individuals may now send and receive money without using cash thanks to the government-backed Unified Payments Interface (UPI). UPI has made digital transactions quick, simple, and accessible for both online and street merchants.
Lets consider the statements of Prof. Arun Kumar and Muhammad Aurangazeb and see if it makes sense.
ReplyDeleteProf. Arun Kumar's estimate of the "real" size of the Indian economy is $2.5 trillion. I do not know what would be estimate of the "real" size of Pakistan's economy as per the statement of Aurangazeb, but since he says it is "closer to a trillion dollars", lets assume a figure of $700 million. That would make the Indian economy only around 3.5 times larger than Pakistan's eventhough its population is 6 times larger. Lets also consider then that this means the effective per capita income of Pakistan is significantly higher than India's. But are these assertions backed by other statistics?
Take for example the sales of cars. We know the purchase of a new car would be the dream of every middle-class Pakistani and Indian. What do the sales of cars in both countries suggest?
For FY2025,
Car sales in India - 1,353,000
Car sales in Pakistan - 112,203
https://www.siam.in/statistics.aspx?mpgid=8&pgidtrail=9
"Total Passenger Vehicle sales rose to 43.02 lakh units in FY 2024-25 from 42.19 lakh units in FY 2023- 24. Specifically, Utility Vehicle sales increased from 25.21 lakh units to 27.97 lakh units in FY 2024-25, and sales of Vans grew from 1.49 lakh units to 1.51 lakh units. However, Passenger Car sales declined from 15.49 lakh units to 13.53 lakh units in FY 2024-25."
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dawn.com/news/amp/1923376
"According to data released by the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association, car sales rose by 38pc to 112,203 units in FY25 from 81,579 units a year earlier."
These numbers would put the car sales in India at 12 times as that of Pakistan.
Could it be that the cheapest Pakistani car is pricier than the cheapest Indian car? Doesn't seem so with these prices.
Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 (pre-GST 2.0) - 500,000 INR (USD 5,882)
United Bravo - PKR 1,500,000 (USD 5,344)
Besides, the sales of Alto and other budget hatches in India have seen a steep decline in recent years and SUVs and XUVs have begun to dominate.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.news18.com/amp/auto/suv-sales-hit-2-79-million-units-in-fy25-small-cars-hit-15-year-low-9300728.html
Note: Some caveats here though. I'm aware that Pakistan also has a large imported used car market (which is practically non-existant in India due to very high import duties) and I do not know if those sales are reflected in Pakistan's numbers. If they are not, and assuming used car imports constitute 20% of Pakistan's car sales (as mentioned in the Pakistani news report below) and the count of 112, 203 above reflect the other 80% of sales, the total car sales in Pakistan would rise to around 140,000. This would still make India's car sales 9-10 times that of Pakistan.
"Pakistan’s auto industry in peril: Used car imports jump to 20pc from 7.5pc in 2020-23: EDB"
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.brecorder.com/news/amp/40387471
Also, I'm aware that Pakistan govt had imposed restrictions on import of CKD kits for a period due to low forex reserves before it signed up for the IMF programme. I'm not sure to what extent that has impacted Pakistan's sales numbers here.
Vineeth: "Take for example the sales of cars. We know the purchase of a new car would be the dream of every middle-class Pakistani and Indian. What do the sales of cars in both countries suggest?"
ReplyDeleteThe world's biggest car market is China. But is it the world's largest economy?
Besides, both India and Pakistan are among the least motorized countries in the world. Only 7-8% of Indian households own cars. The figure for Pakistan is 6-7%.
ReplyDeleteSushant Singh
@SushantSin
If the GDP is rising by so much, why is tax collection not rising at even half that rate?
https://x.com/SushantSin/status/2001125318543949997?s=20
Cars owned per 1000 by Country 2025: US 850, Japan 670, Germany 627, China 231, Egypt 70, Pakistan 69, India 57
ReplyDelete
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/cars-by-country
Riaz Sb., not sure about your source but as per UN stats (as reported in Wikipedia). Pakistan car ownership is: 121/1000
Deletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_territories_by_motor_vehicles_per_capita?wprov=sfla1
Zamir
@G Ali/Zamir,
DeleteIf you check the source for Pakistan's number in that Wiki page, the count of "121" includes both two-wheelers as well as cars (3 crore combined). If you take cars alone (70 lakh), the number of cars per 1000 people in Pakistan would come to "28". India's number of "38" in the same table refers only to cars and do not include motorcycles ("34" in the original source article).
https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2023/08/01/secp-finds-only-2-77-of-total-registered-vehicles-in-pakistan-are-insured/
"The report categorises the 3 crore registered vehicles into 2.3 crore motorcycles and 70 lakh motor cars".
https://www.dataforindia.com/vehicle-ownership/
"There are around 260 million two-wheelers and 50 million cars on Indian roads. Relative to the country's population, there are 185 two-wheelers and 34 cars for every 1000 people in the country."
- "The world's biggest car market is China. But is it the world's largest economy?"
ReplyDeleteSales of cars in a country also depend on the affordability of car prices for its people, taxes etc. It also depends on the state of development of the public transport infrastructure and govt policies that may encourage or discourage private car ownership. India and Pakistan are a closer comparison here on these respects.
- "Cars owned per 1000 by Country 2025: US 850, Japan 670, Germany 627, China 231, Egypt 70, Pakistan 69, India 57"
Perhaps you didn't notice the fine print below that list. It says "The category ‘cars’ includes automobiles, pickup trucks, SUVs, vans, buses, and freight and other commercial trucks, but excludes two-wheelers."
So, the numbers there are clearly not just passenger car ownership, but includes commercial vehicles like buses, trucks etc as well. India has a much more developed rail transport infrastructure than Pakistan in terms of track length, the number of cities that are connected, the number of passenger and freight trains that run daily, the number of passengers that are carried etc. Its urban transport infrastructure including suburban rail and metro systems are far better developed than Pakistan too. So, its possible India has fewer commercial vehicles like trucks and buses per population than Pakistan does.
If you Google for "Cars per 1000 people" for India and Pakistan you get widely varying numbers depending on the source. Some sources say it is 30-38 for India and 15-20 for Pakistan. There is uncertainity over what the source for these numbers are or how they are calculated. Are these cars that are in active use? Does it include older cars that are no longer in use and have been disposed off?
For instance, this source below says that in 2020 India had 31 cars and 172 two-wheelers per 1000 people while Pakistan had 16 and 99 based on vehicle registrations.
https://www.dataforindia.com/vehicle-ownership/
We need to bear in mind that the last census in India was in 2011. So the data on active household ownership of cars could be out of date or inaccurate as well.
So, as of now the number of new car sales/registrations from official sources is a more reliable statistic to compare. If indeed Pakistan were to have higher car ownership than India, why isn't that reflected in the sales numbers?
Vineet, "https://www.dataforindia.com/vehicle-ownership/"
ReplyDeleteWow what an authentic source of information.
G. Ali
G Ali,
DeleteYou just saw "India" in the URL and an Indian name for the author and decided it is unreliable? It specifically mentions the sources for those numbers and they aren't Indian sources.
Also, if you read my reply, I quoted that article as an example to illustrate how different statistics about "car ownership per 1000" are floating around online. It must also be noted that this specific Indian article is the source of India's number "38" in the same Wiki page about "motor vehicle" ownership you quoted above in the reply to Riaz Sb. That number of "38" specifically refers to car ownership alone, and does not count other motor vehicles like two-wheelers. On the other hand Pakistan's count of "121" includes both two-wheelers as well as cars (3 crore combined). If you take cars alone (70 lakh), the number of cars per 1000 people in Pakistan comes to "28", which if the numbers are correct would be significantly lower than India's.
https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2023/08/01/secp-finds-only-2-77-of-total-registered-vehicles-in-pakistan-are-insured/
"The report categorises the 3 crore registered vehicles into 2.3 crore motorcycles and 70 lakh motpr cars".
In any case, its due to these discrepancies and inconsistencies in ownership numbers that I quoted the official numbers of new car registrations in India and Pakistan as a more reliable statistic.
Markets have delivered their verdict on inflated growth claims, volatile reserves, and manufacturing stasis. The tariffs only made the message louder.
ReplyDeletehttps://frontline.thehindu.com/columns/rupee-decline-economic-mismanagement-trade-tariffs-structural-flaws/article70380697.ece
Blaming it on Trump
The government has tried to attribute the rupee’s collapse to exogenous shocks, particularly the Donald Trump administration’s decision in August 2025 to double tariffs on Indian exports to 50 per cent—among the highest imposed on any US trading partner. These tariffs, imposed ostensibly in retaliation for India’s continued purchase of Russian oil, affect over $48 billion worth of exports—more than half of India’s shipments to one of its largest trading partners.
The damage is undeniable. Labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, gems and jewellery, leather goods, and shrimp face devastating contractions in exports, with projected declines of up to 70 per cent in some segments. According to the Global Trade Research Initiative, a research group, Indian exports to the US could fall from a projected $86.5 billion this year to nearly $50 billion in 2026.
Yet, focusing on tariffs alone misses the bigger picture. A resilient economy with genuine export competitiveness, diversified markets, and robust domestic demand would have absorbed such a shock far better. The tariffs merely exposed vulnerabilities embedded by a decade of policy failure.
Failure on manufacturing front
Our manufacturing sector, despite a decade of “Make in India”, has failed to embed itself meaningfully in global value chains. And India’s inability to secure tariff relief despite multiple rounds of negotiations reflects not only geopolitical asymmetry but also the weakness of its economic bargaining position.
That India faced tariffs steeper than China (30 per cent) or Vietnam (20 per cent) is revealing.
When the BJP-led coalition took office in 2014, the rupee was hovering between Rs.58 and Rs.63. In just over 11 years it had crossed Rs.90. The slide has been relentless: from Rs.67 in 2016, and Rs.71 in 2019, to Rs.82 in 2022, and an accelerating fall thereafter.
The oft-cited average exchange rate of Rs.73 over the past decade obscures this acceleration. What matters is not the mean but the trajectory—and that trajectory points downward with growing speed, particularly since 2022.
Using reserves to prop up rupee
The regime frequently invokes our foreign exchange reserves as proof of macroeconomic strength. Reserves peaked at $704.9 billion in September 2024, triggering predictable triumphalism. But the euphoria did not last long.
Between September and November 2024, the reserves plummeted by more than $48 billion—from $705 billion to $656.58 billion—as the RBI burned through dollars trying to prop up the collapsing rupee. The reserves fell for eight consecutive weeks, with the largest weekly decline on record, at $17.76 billion, occurring in November 2024. By March 2025, the reserves had fallen to $668.3 billion, a 5.2 per cent decrease from the September peak. As of end-November, they stood at $686.2 billion.
This volatility exposes the fundamental dishonesty in the government’s narrative. These reserves are not a sign of organic strength; rather, their depletion is evidence of desperate intervention. The RBI has spent tens of billions defending an indefensible exchange rate, depleting reserves in a futile attempt to mask structural weaknesses. When the government celebrates forex reserves, it is celebrating the ammunition it must constantly expend just to keep the rupee from complete free fall.
GDP growth and other claims
The government routinely claims that India is the “fastest-growing major economy”, with headline gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates hovering between 6.5 per cent and 7 per cent. But such claims crumble under scrutiny. Growth slowed to 6.5 per cent in 2024-25 from 9.2 per cent the previous year, which itself was a figure inflated by base effects following the catastrophic contraction of 2020.
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