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The gold standard for historical and contemporary data on income and wealth inequality.
Includes downloadable datasets, Gini coefficients, wealth shares, and tax records for 200+ countries.
Run by economists Piketty, Saez, and Zucman’s network.
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resource guides
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LINKS
🌍 Global Inequality & Wealth Data
World Bank – Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP)
🔗 https://pip.worldbank.org
🔗 https://pip.worldbank.org
Interactive dashboards for poverty rates, Gini, income distribution, and urban–rural splits.
Excellent comparability and regular updates.
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United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – Human Development Data Center
🔗 https://hdr.undp.org/data-center
🔗 https://hdr.undp.org/data-center
Source of the Human Development Index, Inequality-adjusted HDI, and Gender Inequality Index.
Longitudinal, multi-dimensional inequality indicators.
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OECD – Income Distribution and Poverty Database
🔗 https://data.oecd.org/inequality/income-inequality.htm
🔗 https://data.oecd.org/inequality/income-inequality.htm
Highly curated data for high- and middle-income countries.
Good for policy benchmarking (tax, welfare, redistribution impacts).
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Inequality.org
Translates complex data on wealth and income gaps into clear stories and visuals.
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International Inequalities Institute at the LSE
One of the world’s leading research centres on structural inequality.
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Inequality Media (Robert Reich's Website)
Short, high-impact videos and digital content to expose how economic and social inequality are built into our politics and structures.
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Oxfam
Reports, data, tools and films related to inequality and poverty.
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IMF – Fiscal Monitor: Tackling Inequality Series
🔗 https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/FM
🔗 https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/FM
Focused on fiscal policy, taxation, and redistribution measures.
Excellent for connecting inequality data to macroeconomic policy.
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🌍 Urban, Environmental, and Spatial Inequality
UN-Habitat Urban Inequality Index (UII)
🔗 https://unhabitat.org
🔗 https://unhabitat.org
Measures inequality in access to housing, transport, and services across major cities.
Great for linking urban planning to social outcomes.
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Global Data Lab – Subnational Human Development Database
🔗 https://globaldatalab.org/shdi/
🔗 https://globaldatalab.org/shdi/
Allows you to map HDI and inequality within countries (down to province/district level).
Ideal for visualization or comparison projects like Unequal Scenes.
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IPUMS International (University of Minnesota)
🔗 https://international.ipums.org/international/
🔗 https://international.ipums.org/international/
Microdata from censuses around the world, harmonized for cross-country comparison.
Very strong on housing, migration, education, occupation.
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Our World in Data – Inequality, Poverty, and Wealth Sections
🔗 https://ourworldindata.org/inequality
🔗 https://ourworldindata.org/inequality
Clean visualizations, regularly updated, great for presentations and storytelling.
Sources from WID, World Bank, and others but presented interactively.
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UN Environment Programme (UNEP) – Inequality & Environment Portal
🔗 https://www.unep.org/resources/publication/inequality-and-environment
🔗 https://www.unep.org/resources/publication/inequality-and-environment
Examines ecological inequality, climate vulnerability, and environmental justice links.
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🔬 Africa-Focused & Regional Resources
African Development Bank – Africa Inequality Database
🔗 https://www.afdb.org/en/topics-and-sectors/initiatives-partnerships/africa-information
🔗 https://www.afdb.org/en/topics-and-sectors/initiatives-partnerships/africa-information
Contains Gini, Palma ratio, and sectoral inequality metrics for African nations.
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DataFirst (University of Cape Town)
Microdata repository for South African and African household, labour, and census data.
Great for deep statistical work (GHS, NIDS, Census).
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UNU-WIDER – World Income Inequality Database (WIID)
Alternative to WID; broader coverage, with Gini indices and income shares.
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African Centre of Excellence for Inequality Research (ACEIR)
Cutting-edge African inequality research, dashboards, and country reports.
🧭 Analytical & Visualization Tools
Gapminder Tools
🔗 https://www.gapminder.org/tools
🔗 https://www.gapminder.org/tools
Interactive scatterplots to visualize life expectancy, income, and inequality trends over time.
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Our World in Data Grapher API
🔗 https://ourworldindata.org/grapher
🔗 https://ourworldindata.org/grapher
Build your own custom inequality visualizations with real-time data feeds.
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Mapbox + OpenStreetMap + HDX (Humanitarian Data Exchange)
🔗 https://data.humdata.org
🔗 https://data.humdata.org
Spatial datasets for mapping inequality, urban density, and infrastructure access.
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WorldPop + Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS)
🔗 https://www.worldpop.org
🔗 https://dhsprogram.com
🔗 https://www.worldpop.org
🔗 https://dhsprogram.com
Geo-coded population and health inequality data; ideal for mapping at high resolution.
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🧩 Bonus: Research Portals & Trackers
ILOSTAT (International Labour Organization)
🔗 https://ilostat.ilo.org
🔗 https://ilostat.ilo.org
Labour market inequality, gender wage gaps, informal sector data.
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Policy Inequality Database (LSE / Harvard / OECD collaboration)
🔗 https://policyinequality.org
🔗 https://policyinequality.org
Tracks policy levers influencing inequality: tax, welfare, education, labour reforms.
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