World Inequality Report 2026

Lucas Chancel is Associate Professor of Economics with tenure at Sciences Po and Co-Director of the World Inequality Lab at the Paris School of Economics. His books include Unsustainable Inequalities: Social Justice and the Environment and Energy and Inequality: A Political History.Ricardo Gómez-Carrera is the Lead Author of the World Inequality Report 2026. He is a research economist at the World Inequality Lab and a PhD candidate at the Paris School of Economics. His research focuses on development, inequality, and the role of education in reducing inequality.Rowaida Moshrif is Co-Director and Head of Data at the World Inequality Lab. She works on the development of large-scale inequality databases and research projects aimed at advancing the understanding of global economic disparities and informing public policy. She is also a PhD candidate at EHESS, affiliated with the Paris School of Economics (PSE). Her research lies at the intersection of economic history and political economy with a regional focus on Egypt.Thomas Piketty is Professor of Economics and Economic History at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences and the Paris School of Economics. His books include A Brief History of Equality, Capital and Ideology, and the bestselling Capital in the Twenty-First Century.

"We live in a system where resources extracted from labor and nature in low-income countries continue to sustain the prosperity and the unsustainable lifestyle of people in high-income economies and rich elites across countries. These patterns are not accidents of markets. They reject the legacy of history and the functioning of institutions, regulations, and policies—all of which are related to unequal power relations that have yet to be rebalanced."Jayati Ghosh"History, experiences across countries, and theory all show that today's extreme inequality is not inevitable. Progressive taxation, strong social investment, fair labor standards, and democratic institutions have narrowed gaps in the past—and can do so again. The World Inequality Report 2026 provides the empirical foundation and intellectual framework for what can be done."Joseph E. Stiglitz"Inequality is silent until it becomes scandalous. This report gives voice to inequality—and to the billions of people whose opportunities are frustrated by today's unequal social and economic structures."Ricardo Gómez-Carrera"The World Inequality Report 2026 is an outstanding achievement: the definitive resource to monitor the evolution of inequality globally, in all its dimensions. It is a true global public good and a vital input for the public conversation throughout the world. We should all be immensely thankful to its authors who are doing such a service by disseminating this knowledge, for the benefit of all."Gabriel Zucman

• ForewordExecutive SummaryIntroduction1 Global Economic Inequality2 Regional Income Inequality3 Regional Wealth Inequality4 Gender Inequality5 Exorbitant Privilege6 Climate, a Capital Problem7 Multi-Millionaires Taxation8 Political CleavagesGlossaryCountry-sheetsAppendix