Trends of Income Levels and Inequalities

This section presents background data on topics related to resource mobilization for human development and health, in particular different dimensions of the economic and social inequality between and within countries. These facts and trends underscore the necessity to create better life chances for poor and disadvantaged populations through fair and sustainable transfers of financial resources, and, finally, tackle these appalling disparities at the roots overcoming the underlying structures of power and concentration of productive resources.

See the Trend of Economic Disadvantage of Developing Countries in relation to Advanced Economies here.

The backlog of the majority of developing countries with regard to health spending per capita is considerably more pronounced than international income inequality. In 69% of developing countries the per capita government expenditure on health was less than a tenth of the average seen in economically privileged countries when including external cooperation. When looking exclusively on public health expenditure funded with domestic resources 82% of developing countries were below 10% of the level calculated for advanced economies.

See an overview of health expenditure per capita as % of DAC Members average (2013):

Among the datasets made available in the interactive map you can find and track the following:

• The government expenditure on health per capita represents the amount of resources that, in principle, is available to fund health services that are accessible for all citizens. This amount includes spending funded through external sources such as development cooperation and, therefore, is different from the figure shown in the second chapter that refers to government expenditure levels financed with domestic resources only. Whereas government expenditure for health is as low as about 10 dollars in countries like Myanmar, Haiti, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea-Bissau and Eritrea public spending for health reaches levels that are 500 times higher in countries such as Switzerland, Luxembourg and Norway. In 50 countries actual government expenditure for health was below the general minimum estimated for low-income countries (89 Dollars in 2013 terms based on the estimate made by McIntyre and Meheus of 86 US$ expressed in 2012 terms and considering world inflation rate). In fact, the current levels of public health spending may be insufficient in a number of other countries as well compared to the required minimum level due to factors such as higher medicine prices related to so-called intellectual property rights imposed by trade agreements, higher-than-average disease burdens especially caused by generalized HIV epidemics or investment needs to increase the health workforce and infrastructure. Source: National Health Accounts


• Premature avoidable death due to inhumane living conditions and lack of access to health services represents the most dreadful and irreversible dimension of inequality. The average life expectancy at birth gives a well-defined picture of the disparities of survival chances among different countries and its evolution over time. Source: Global Health Observatory


• The percentage of deaths that occurred among people younger than 50 years of age also reflects the different survival chances within countries and may be taken as a more revealing indicator for measuring the extent of structural disadvantage and its fatal consequences. Presented data correspond to the period 2010-15. Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2013)


• The GDP per capita over four decades, i.e. observed since 1980 or expected until 2020, characterizes – despite a multitude of conceptual weaknesses - the economic potential of each country and serves as a basis to calculate the government revenue from domestic sources. This indicator is presented according to purchase power parities, i.e. in international dollars and calculated at average exchange rates as well as the result of combining both calculation methods to better reflect the capacity for financing health services. Moreover, the trend of the combined GDP measure when put in relation to the average income level observed in advanced economies can be seen here representing a significant indicator of relative poverty between countries. Source: IMF World Economic Outlook, April 2015


• The income share held by the highest 10 % portrays economic inequality within countries. As these data are available on a yearly basis for a minority of developing countries only here the most recent figure produced in the period 2007 to 2012 is shown. Source: World Development Indicators


• For several industrialized countries there are studies on the concentration of income in the hands of the richest fraction of the population, namely the top 0.1 % and in some cases the top 0.01 %. While the interactive map shows the respective proportions for some DAC members with large economies, the chart exhibits the trend of the share held by the highest income groups in United States for a century. The scandalous conclusion is that income concentration deteriorated very fast in this country since the 1980s to the extent that it is more extreme now than in the times of the First World War and the Economic Crisis of 1929. Source: World Top Incomes Database