Colombia is Latin America’s second most unequal country in the Americas after Honduras, according to updated World Bank statistics.
According to the international financial institution, Colombia’s GINI coefficient was 53.5, the same as in 2012.
Honduras’ GINI coefficient was a fraction higher, 53.7, but steeply dropping.
While still among the hemisphere’s most unequal countries, ongoing attempts to reduce poverty has diminished the wealth disparity in Colombia, which was still at 60.1 in 2006 when Colombia was by far the hemisphere’s most unequal country.
Colombia’s GINI coefficient
In the current situation, Colombia’s top 10% of earners have as much capital as the bottom 40%, according to the BBC.
Additionally, 77.6% of land in Colombia is owned by only 13.7% of the country’s inhabitants, the British broadcasters cited a study of the prestigious Andes University in Bogota.
The wealth disparity in Colombia and Latin America is hardly comparable with northern America.
The United States’ GINI index is 41.1, up 0.6 points from 2010, while that of Canada was 33.7 when it was last measured at the turn of the decade.
If a country has a GINI index of 0 this would mean all inhabitants have exactly the same amount of capital. If the coefficient is 100, this means one person owns all his country’s capital.