Official: China’s Wealth Gap “Relatively Large”
China’s statistics chief, admitting the country’s wealth gap is “relatively large”, released a recalculated indicator of economic inequality on Friday in the first time in several years that officialdom has addressed the sensitive issue head-on.
The Gini coefficient, a measure of income disparity widely used by economists, peaked in 2008 and has been narrowing since then, Ma Jiantang, the head of the National Bureau of Statistics, told reporters at a press conference on 2012 economic performance.
China’s Gini coefficient stood at 0.474 in 2012, down from 0.477 in 2011 and from a peak of 0.491 in 2008, Ma said.
“A Gini coefficient between 0.47-0.49 shows that the gap of income distribution is relatively large,” he explained.
China had not provided an official Gini coefficient since 2005, claiming that it was too difficult to calculate given rampant under-reporting of incomes, particularly by the wealthy.
The index ranges from 0 to 1, with the 0.4 mark viewed by analysts as the point at which social dissatisfaction may come to a head.
Ma said the World Bank put China’s Gini coefficient at 0.474 in 2008. The World Bank’s last published figure – 0.425 – was for 2005.
– Reuters