Windows Errors? Fix Them Before They Spread
Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallOutdated Drivers Are Slowing You Down
One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchYes. A 2024 World Inequality Lab working paper estimates that India’s top 1% received 22.6% of national income in 2022–23 and says the share was higher than the corresponding estimates for the United States, Brazil and South Africa. The figure is an estimate, not a direct count, and the authors warn that India’s economic data quality has declined and that measuring the bottom of the income distribution is difficult.
What the study says about India’s top 1%
The World Inequality Lab’s 2024 working paper, Income and Wealth Inequality in India, 1922–2023: The Rise of the Billionaire Raj, estimates that the top 1% of India’s population received 22.6% of national income in 2022–23. The authors describe this as a historical high in their income series, which runs from 1922 to 2023.
The paper says India’s top 1% income share was among the highest in the world, exceeding the corresponding shares in South Africa, Brazil and the United States. This is the study’s comparison of the top 1% share of national income; it is not a comparison of wealth, average income or the share held by a different portion of each country’s population.
Income share and wealth share are different measures
The same paper estimates that India’s top 1% held 40.1% of wealth in 2022–23. That is a separate finding, not another way of expressing the 22.6% income figure: income is a flow received over a period, while wealth is a stock of assets held. The paper’s wealth series begins in 1961.
#1 Best Overall
How the authors constructed the estimates
The authors combine national income accounts and wealth aggregates with tax tabulations, billionaire rankings, rich lists, and surveys covering income, consumption and wealth. They use these sources to build what they describe as consistent long-run income and wealth series.
Because the estimates bring together multiple data sources and methods, they should be read as the study’s best estimates within its framework—not as exact measurements of every person’s income or assets. The authors specifically flag challenges in estimating income and consumption near the bottom of India’s distribution in recent years, alongside declining quality of economic data. Contemporary coverage of the paper reported the authors’ description of data quality as “notably poor.”
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the comparison can—and cannot—show
The central result is a distributional comparison: in the paper’s estimates, the top 1% receives a larger share of national income in India than the top 1% does in the United States, Brazil or South Africa. It does not, by itself, explain why the shares differ or establish that a particular policy or political event caused the difference. The study’s authors argue that income and wealth inequality in India must be closely tracked and challenged.
Scroll.in’s March 20, 2024 report and The New Indian Express’s March 20, 2024 report covered the finding when the paper appeared. The latest reference year for the figures discussed here is 2022–23; they should not be treated as measurements for 2026.
Quick Recap
Best Value
Rank #4
Rank #3
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
