Definition: the Gini index measure the degree of income inequality and can take a value from 0 to 100. The Gini index equals 0 if everyone has the same income, so with a completely equal distribution. A value of 100 corresponds to a completely unequal distribution, where one person has all the income and the rest has no income. The net equivalent disposable income is used to calculate this indicator. Net disposable income is equal to the sum of gross incomes of all household members minus taxes, social contributions and inter-household transfers (EC, 2016). To obtain the net equivalent disposable income, the net disposable income is divided by an equivalence factor (the so-called modified equivalence scale of the OECD). An adult has a factor of 1, each additional person above 14 years old a factor of 0.5 and each additional person under the age of 14 a factor of 0.3. The net equivalent disposable income allows the standard of living of persons to be compared, taking into account the economies of scale resulting from a joint household and the composition of the family.

The income data used here are based on the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) survey. The income data relate always to the year preceding the survey year. This means, for example, for the survey year 2020 that in the calculation of this indicator the incomes of 2019 were used, which were not affected by the Covid-19 crisis (Statbel, 2021a).

Statbel organises this EU-harmonised survey in Belgium and makes the results available, in particular to Eurostat. 2004 is the first year for which European harmonised data have been collected in order to calculate the indicator. The data used here come from Eurostat, which publishes detailed and comparable results between EU Member States. Since these data are based on a survey, a margin of uncertainty has to be taken into account. This margin of uncertainty increases as the indicator is calculated on smaller sub-populations. The confidence intervals are available on request from Statbel.

From 2019 onwards, the methodology of the survey has been thoroughly revised for better accuracy. Therefore, the data collected until 2018 are not comparable with those collected from 2019 onwards. In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic impacted data collection. This makes it difficult to compare the results of SILC 2020 with those of previous years. (Statbel, 2021b). Therefore, they are not used to calculate and evaluate the long-term trend.

Goal: the Gini index must not rise.

The Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs adopted by the UN in 2015 include target 10.4: “Adopt policies, especially fiscal, wage and social protection policies, and progressively achieve greater equality”.

The Federal Long-Term Strategic Vision for Sustainable Development mentions: “Since an inclusive society wants to promote the well-being of every individual, it will be essential to combat poverty and social inequalities” (introduction of the challenge "A society promoting social cohesion" Belgian Official Gazette, 08/10/2013).

As income inequality in Belgium is low compared to other EU Member States and has remained stable since 2004, it can be assumed that, in order to contribute to the challenge of the Federal policy vision and the SDG target, the Gini index, as a measure of income inequality, should not increase.

International comparison: the Gini index for the EU27 fluctuates around 30.4 between 2010 and 2022. In 2022 it was 29.6. Belgium systematically scores lower than the EU27 average: the income inequality in Belgium is thus lower. When Member States are divided into three groups, Belgium is part of the group with the best performance in 2022. In that year, Slovakia ranked first with 21.2% and Bulgaria last with 38.4%.

UN indicator: the selected indicator does not correspond to any monitoring indicator for the SDGs but is related to target 10.4. The Gini index reflects the degree of income inequality, which is determined in particular by fiscal, wage and social protection policies.

Sources

• General

  • SDGs, Sustainable Development Goals: United Nations (2015), Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 25 September 2015, document A/RES/70/1.

  • Indicators: United Nations (2017), Work of the Statistical Commission pertaining to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 6 July 2017, document A/RES/71/313.

  • UN Sustainable Development: https://sdgs.un.org/ (consulted on 18/01/2023).

  • UN Sustainable Development Goal indicators website: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/ (consulted on 18/01/2023).

• Specific

  • Belgian Official Gazette: http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/cgi/welcome.pl; research on http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/doc/rech_f.htm (consulted on 24/09/2020).

  • EC (2016), Methodological guidelines and description of EU-SILC - Target Variables -015 operation (Version August 2016), DocSILC065 (2015 operation).

  • Statbel (2021a), Chiffres clés 2021, p. 31, https://statbel.fgov.be/fr/nouvelles/chiffres-cles-2021 (consulted on 10/12/2021)

  • Statbel (2021b), SILC FAQ, https://statbel.fgov.be/fr/themes/menages/pauvrete-et-conditions-de-vie/faq, see in particular "Y a-t-il des ruptures de séries dans la chronologie de l'enquête SILC ?" (consulted on 19/11/2021)

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