Adopted in 2015 by all United Nations (UN) members, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a global agenda for making the world a better place by 2030. They are described by the UN as a ‘shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet‘, and goals are to be achieved by all countries, in global partnership, by 2030.
This page provides a selection of visualisations on global and regional trends for Sustainable Development Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries.
The visualisations use the latest official data from the United Nations SDG Global Database.
Target 10.1
By 2030, progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population at a rate higher than the national average
Indicators:
| 10.1.1 | Growth rates of household expenditure or income per capita among the bottom 40 per cent of the population and the total population |
This indicator compares the income growth of the poorest with the national average. The poorest is defined as the bottom 40% of the population, measured by income. For a country to achieve reduced income inequality when measured in this way, the income growth of the poorest needs to be higher than that of the national average.
About half of the countries with available data saw higher income growth of the bottom 40% of the population than the national average. Note that data is only available for 120 countries, and is based on household surveys from 2009 to 2020. Only 13 countries have data for this indicator from 2020.
Target 10.2
By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status
Indicators:
| 10.2.1 | Proportion of people living below 50% of median income |
A key measure of inclusion is the relative income poverty rate, measured by the share of a country's population living on less than half the median income. On average across 163 countries worldwide, 13% of the population lives below 50% of the median income.
Over time, progress towards reducing this rate has been made in about two-thirds of countries. Although rates are highest in Latin America and the Caribbean, this is one of the regions which has made the most progress over the last years according to the UN. In Europe and Northern America, less than half of the countries have managed to reduce the relative income poverty rate.
Target 10.3
Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices and promoting appropriate legislation, policies and action in this regard
Indicators:
| 10.3.1 | Proportion of population reporting having personally felt discriminated against or harassed within the previous 12 months on the basis of a ground of discrimination prohibited under international human rights law |
Insufficient data is available to analyse global or regional trends.
Target 10.4
Adopt policies, especially fiscal, wage and social protection policies, and progressively achieve greater equality
Indicators:
| 10.4.1 | Labour share of GDP |
| 10.4.2 | Redistributive impact of fiscal policy |
Compared to 2004, the earliest year for which data is available, the labour share of income worldwide has decreased from 54.1% to 52.6% in 2019. Over the past decade, the labour share has remained more or less unchanged.
Labour shares are generally higher in high-income countries. However, Australia and New Zealand as well as Europe and Northern America have both seen a decline in the labour share of income compared to 2004.
Data on the redistributive impacts of fiscal policy are not available at the global or regional level.
Target 10.5
Improve the regulation and monitoring of global financial markets and institutions and strengthen the implementation of such regulations
Indicators:
| 10.5.1 | Financial Soundness Indicators |
No data is available at the global or regional level.
Target 10.6
Ensure enhanced representation and voice for developing countries in decision-making in global international economic and financial institutions in order to deliver more effective, credible, accountable and legitimate institutions
Indicators:
| 10.6.1 | Proportion of members and voting rights of developing countries in international organizations |
The chart below shows the latest available data (mainly from 2019/2020/2021) on developing countries' share of voting rights and membership in different international organisations.
The largest discrepancies between membership share and voting rights are found in the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (part of the World Bank), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Finance Cooperation (IFC).
Over the past two decades, developing countries' share of voting rights, as well as membership shares, have remained relatively stable. One notable exception is an increase in voting rights in the IMF from 31% in 2000 to 38% in 2020.
Target 10.7
Facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies
Indicators:
| 10.7.1 | Recruitment cost borne by employee as a proportion of monthly income earned in country of destination |
| 10.7.2 | Number of countries with migration policies that facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people |
| 10.7.3 | Number of people who died or disappeared in the process of migration towards an international destination |
| 10.7.4 | Proportion of the population who are refugees, by country of origin |
No data is available for the first indicator (10.7.1).
The second indicator (10.7.2) of migration policies is assessed by the UN through looking at six policy domains at the country-level:
- Migrant rights
- Whole-of-government/Evidence-based policies
- Cooperation and partnerships
- Socioeconomic well-being
- Mobility dimensions of crises
- Safe, orderly and regular migration
The six policy domains cover a total of 30 indicators on migration policy. Countries are classified by a score from 1 to 4 on whether they have migration policy that facilitates orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people:
- 1 = Country requires further progress
- 2 = Country partially meets requirements
- 3 = Country meets requirements
- 4 = Country fully meets requirements
The chart below shows the share of countries reaching levels 3 and 4 (meets/fully meets), worldwide and by SDG region.
While data does not allow for assessing trends over time, data from 2021 shows that worldwide some 6 of 10 countries reach level 3 or above. The share of countries reaching levels 3 and 4 was lowest in Oceania and highest in Central and Southern Asia and Europe and Northern America.
For the third indicator (10.7.3), the latest data from 2021 shows that the number of deaths and disappearances during migration reached its highest level since 2017, with the majority of fatalities (above 3,400) occurring on maritime and land routes to and through Europe. According to the UN, the pandemic was an important factor in the 2021 figures:
The widespread impact of the pandemic forced many people seeking safety, reunification with family, decent work and better opportunities to take risky migratory routes.
Data on the fourth indicator (10.7.4) shows that the number of refugees is on the rise worldwide. Measured as the number of refugees per 100,000 population, the number of refugees increased by 44% since 2015, from 216 to 311 in 2021. Northern Africa and Western Asia is by far the region with the highest share of refugees (1545 per 100,000 population), with over 8 million of the world's 24 million refugees originating from this region.
Target 10.a
Implement the principle of special and differential treatment for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, in accordance with World Trade Organization agreements
Indicators:
| 10.a.1 | Proportion of tariff lines applied to imports from least developed countries and developing countries with zero-tariff |
In 2020 just over half of the products produced in developing regions received duty-free treatment. For exports from least developed countries, the duty-free share stood slightly higher at 64%.
Since 2015, the duty-free share has remained stable for LDCs, while it has increased by 4 percentage points for developing regions, indicating improvements in special and differential treatment.
The share of duty-free lines varies significantly between sectors, with textile and clothing exports having the lowest shares of duty-free lines.
Target 10.b
Encourage official development assistance and financial flows, including foreign direct investment, to States where the need is greatest, in particular least developed countries, African countries, small island developing States and landlocked developing countries, in accordance with their national plans and programmes
Indicators:
| 10.b.1 | Total resource flows for development, by recipient and donor countries and type of flow (e.g. official development assistance, foreign direct investment and other flows) |
While the target sets out a commitment to encourage development assistance and investment, there is no set numerical target. Data from the OECD on total resource flows is shown below for informative purposes.
Target 10.c
By 2030, reduce to less than 3 per cent the transaction costs of migrant remittances and eliminate remittance corridors with costs higher than 5 per cent
Indicators:
| 10.c.1 | Remittance costs as a proportion of the amount remitted |
While progress is being made, the world is still far from the target of reducing remittance costs to less than 3%. The highest remittance costs (by receiving region) is in Oceania and Sub-Saharan Africa, both above 8%.
The UN notes in its annual SDG progress report that digital remittances had a global average cost of 5.0%, with non-digital remittances at 6.7%. With just 27% of remittances being made digitally, there is hope for reducing remittance costs by facilitating more use of digital transfers.
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About the data
The data presented on global and regional trends are from the UN SDG Global Database.
Changelog
- First release November 2022