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.