The shares of national income going to the top 1% and the bottom half, and the income of rural households.
Every chart runs from 2004 at the left edge to 2026 at the right and changes side between 2013 and 2014. Dashed lines are the two period averages. A gap is a year with no published figure.
Income share of the top 1%
2004-2013 average20.4%
2014-2026 average21.9%
Latest, 202222.6%
19 of the 23 years have a published figure; the others are left empty.
Source and method
World Inequality Lab: Bharti, Chancel, Piketty and Somanchi (2024), 'Income and Wealth Inequality in India, 1922-2023', WIL Working Paper 2024/09, Statistical Appendix, table of per-adult pre-tax national income shares, 1951-2022. The series ends at 2022 (2022-23); 2023-2026 are empty because no annual figure has been published for them. Top 1% share.
181920212223200420082013201420202026
Income share of the bottom 50%
2004-2013 average16.8%
2014-2026 average14.7%
Latest, 202215.0%
19 of the 23 years have a published figure; the others are left empty.
Source and method
World Inequality Lab: Bharti, Chancel, Piketty and Somanchi (2024), 'Income and Wealth Inequality in India, 1922-2023', WIL Working Paper 2024/09, Statistical Appendix, table of per-adult pre-tax national income shares, 1951-2022. The series ends at 2022 (2022-23); 2023-2026 are empty because no annual figure has been published for them. Bottom 50% share. The share fell to 13.9 in 2017, rose to 15.5 in 2020 and stood at 15.0 in 2022.
13141516171819200420082013201420202026
Real growth in rural household income
2014-2026 average113.4%
Latest, 2021126.8%
Published from 2016. There is no earlier figure on the same basis, so the two periods cannot be compared on this series.
Source and method
NABARD All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey (NAFIS), average monthly income of rural households: Rs 8,059 in 2016-17 and Rs 12,698 in 2021-22, a nominal rise of 57.6%. Deflated by MoSPI's CPI-Rural (base 2012=100; fiscal-year averages 132.43 and 164.53, a rise of 24.2%), the real rise is 26.8%, about 4.9% a year. Indexed 2016-17 = 100, so 2016 = 100 and 2021 = 126.8. NAFIS has two rounds only; every other year is left empty. The same survey found the share of rural households with outstanding debt rose from 47.4% to 52%.