The Biz Reporter
New Delhi, December 10:
Income inequality in India remains among the highest globally, with the top 10% of earners capturing 58% of the national income, while the bottom 50% receive only 15%, according to the World Inequality Report 2026 released on Wednesday.
The report, edited by economists Lucas Chancel, Ricardo Gómez-Carrera, Roweida Moshrif, and Thomas Piketty, highlights a widening wealth gap. India’s richest 10% now hold 65% of national wealth, while the bottom half together possess just 6%.
Average annual income in India is around ₹6.2 lakh (PPP), but average wealth stands at ₹28 lakh (PPP), exposing a stark gap between earnings and asset ownership. Female labour participation also remains low at 15%, showing minimal improvement over the decade. The report notes gender, caste, and structural inequalities as persistent drivers of economic imbalance.
Globally, wealth inequality has reached historic highs, with the richest 0.001% alone holding more wealth than the entire bottom half of the world’s adults. India, the report says, has seen its middle-income population shrink dramatically since the 1980s, with a major shift towards a smaller but wealthier top segment.
Thomas Piketty, co-director of the study, said: “The World Inequality Report 2026 warns that tackling inequality today is more challenging than ever. Without strong redistributive policies, countries will struggle to address the social and economic tensions of the coming decades.”
By 2025, China’s share of the global middle class is expected to rise, while India’s is projected to decline further, reflecting slow income growth among vast sections of its workforce.
The report concludes that India’s inequality is deeply structural, calling for targeted policies including higher investment in public services, labour market reforms, fair taxation, and social protection schemes.
