South Africa most unequal country in the world: Report | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
July 11, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2025
South Africa most unequal country in the world: Report

World+Biz

BSS/AFP
10 March, 2022, 09:55 am
Last modified: 10 March, 2022, 10:05 am

Related News

  • Rescuers in South Africa search for the missing after floods leave at least 49 dead
  • South Africa town leader 'sad' about Trump's misuse of white crosses video
  • Trump confronts South Africa's Ramaphosa with false claims of white genocide
  • First white South Africans arrive in US as Trump claims they face discrimination
  • First white South Africans board plane for US under Trump refugee plan

South Africa most unequal country in the world: Report

BSS/AFP
10 March, 2022, 09:55 am
Last modified: 10 March, 2022, 10:05 am
Shoppers walk through a market in Pretoria, South Africa. Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg
Shoppers walk through a market in Pretoria, South Africa. Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg

South Africa is the most unequal country in the world, with race playing a determining factor in a society where 10 percent of the population owns more than 80 percent of the wealth, a World Bank report said Wednesday.

"South Africa... is the most unequal country in the world, ranking first among 164 countries," the Washington-based institution said in a report called 'Inequality in Southern Africa'.

Nearly thirty years after the end of apartheid, "race remains a key driver of high inequality in South Africa, due to its impact on education and the labour market," it said.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

When race is considered as a factor in income disparities, the report added, "its contribution to income inequality amounts to 41 percent, while contribution of education is reduced to 30 percent."

"The legacy of colonialism and apartheid, rooted in racial and spatial segregation, continues to reinforce inequality."

The country's neighbours that make up the rest of the Southern African Customs Union -- Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia -- all finish high on the list of the most unequal countries in the world.

Gender also plays an important role.

In the region, women earn on average 30 percent less than men with the same level of education.

The pay gap between men and women reaches 38 percent in Namibia and South Africa.

The uneven distribution of agricultural land is also a factor driving inequality, especially in rural areas.

In Namibia, 70 percent of the 39.7 million hectares of commercial agricultural land "still belong to Namibians of European descent", the World Bank said.

The report was produced before the Covid-19 pandemic and its authors used the Gini coefficient -- an indicator of income inequality -- to rank countries.

Top News

south africa / unequal / inequalities

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Kunming rising: China's emerging healthcare hub draws Bangladeshi patients
    Kunming rising: China's emerging healthcare hub draws Bangladeshi patients
  • Representational image. Photo: Collected
    2nd round of US-Bangladesh tariff talks set to conclude today as business leaders await breakthrough
  • Photo: Courtesy
    4 arrested, 2 remanded over brutal killing of trader near Mitford Hospital

MOST VIEWED

  • In terms of stream of education, girls maintained their excellence as well. Photo: TBS
    SSC 2025: Girls dominate boys by over 5%
  • Photo: Mohammad Minhaj Uddin/TBS
    SSC, equivalent results: Pass rate drops to 68.45%, GPA-5 also declines
  • The overall pass rate across all boards this year, 68.45%, is significantly lower than last year's. Photo: Focus Bangla
    SSC 2025: Rajshahi board records highest pass rate, Barishal lowest
  • How S Alam’s Global Islami Bank cooked Tk2,259cr loss into Tk128cr profit
    How S Alam’s Global Islami Bank cooked Tk2,259cr loss into Tk128cr profit
  • Representational image. Photo: TBS
    SSC 2025: 73.63% pass rate among technical students, 68.09% at Madrasahs
  • Economist Abul Barkat; Photo: Courtesy
    Economist Abul Barkat arrested in graft case

Related News

  • Rescuers in South Africa search for the missing after floods leave at least 49 dead
  • South Africa town leader 'sad' about Trump's misuse of white crosses video
  • Trump confronts South Africa's Ramaphosa with false claims of white genocide
  • First white South Africans arrive in US as Trump claims they face discrimination
  • First white South Africans board plane for US under Trump refugee plan

Features

Kunming rising: China's emerging healthcare hub draws Bangladeshi patients

Kunming rising: China's emerging healthcare hub draws Bangladeshi patients

4h | Panorama
Photo: Collected/BBC

What Hitler’s tariff policy misfire can teach the modern world

1d | The Big Picture
Illustration: TBS

Behind closed doors: Why women in Bangladesh stay in abusive marriages

1d | Panorama
Purbachl’s 144-acre Sal forest is an essential part of the area’s biodiversity. Within it, 128 species of plants and 74 species of animals — many of them endangered — have been identified. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/TBS

A forest saved: Inside the restoration of Purbachal's last Sal grove

1d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Renowned economist Abul Barkat imprisoned

Renowned economist Abul Barkat imprisoned

2h | TBS Today
All of Iran's uranium still intact, Israel claims

All of Iran's uranium still intact, Israel claims

2h | TBS World
Trump-Netanyahu in new strategy on Gaza issue

Trump-Netanyahu in new strategy on Gaza issue

4h | TBS World
Shocking science: why birds stay safe on electricity lines

Shocking science: why birds stay safe on electricity lines

5h | TBS Stories
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net