OECD Income (IDD) and Wealth (WDD) Distribution Databases

To benchmark and monitor economic inequality across countries, the OECD relies on two dedicated statistical databases: the OECD Income Distribution Database (IDD), which offers data on levels and trends in income inequality and poverty, and the OECD Wealth Distribution Database (WDD), which collects information on the distribution of household net wealth. OECD IDD is updated on a rolling basis, two to three times a year. OECD WDD is updated every two or three years. If you wish to be informed by email when either database is updated, please contact Inequality.Contact@oecd.org.

OECD Income Distribution Database (IDD)

February 2023: New working paper "Nowcasting and provisional estimates of income inequality using microsimulation techniques"

27 October 2022: New data is available for Australia (income year 2019/20); Canada (income year 2020); Denmark (income year 2019); Finland (income years 2019 and 2020); Germany (income year 2019); the Netherlands (income year 2020, provisional); Norway (income year 2020); Türkiye (income year 2019); the United Kingdom (income year 2020/21); and the United States (income years 2020 and 2021, both provisional). Data was revised for Canada (income years 2012-2019); the Netherlands (income year 2019); and Sweden (income years 2013-2020). See data:

by Measure (in OECD.Stat)
by Country (in OECD.Stat)
- Metadata: Sources and income years (4-page, .pdf) and Country-specific detailed information for latest year and Wave 7 (71 pages, .xlsx)
Key indicators (Table in .xlsx) for latest years on Ginis, Income shares, Poverty (relative & "anchored" in 2005) by age group and for working households
- see OECD blog based on IDD data: The poverty risk has shifted from the elderly to young people (May 2021)

in OECD Regions
- see Insights (2-page, .pdf) and Data sources and reference years (2-page, .pdf)
in Metropolitan areas
- Income Levels And Inequality in Metropolitan Areas: A Comparative Approach in OECD Countries (working paper, 2016)
- OECD (2016), Making Cities Work for All: Data and Actions for Inclusive Growth

OECD Wealth Distribution Database (WDD)

Tuesday 6 July 2021:

- New Policy brief: Inequalities in Household Wealth and Financial Insecurity of Households + statistical annex

- Policy Webinar on Inequalities in Household Wealth and Financial Insecurity of Households, organised by the OECD and EC DG Employment: Agenda and Replay

- Update of the OECD WDD. See current data:

by Measure (in OECD.Stat)
by Country (in OECD.Stat)
- Metadata: Sources and years (2-pager, .pdf) and main concepts (4-pager, .pdf)

Key indicators (Table in .xlsx) for latest years on wealth inequality, wealth shares, household indebtedness and asset poverty

See also:

Redistribution from a joint income-wealth perspective, SEM Working Parper #257 (January 2021)
Inequalities in household wealth across OECD countries: Evidence from the OECD Wealth Distribution Database, OECD Statistics Working Papers, No. 2018/01 (June 2018)

METHODs and concepts (IDD)

Terms of reference of OECD project on the distribution of household incomes, using:
- 2012 onwards definition (Wave 7)
- definition until 2011 (Wave 6)
What are equivalence scales?
Canberra Group Handbook on Household Income Statistics - see:
- Handbook on household income statistics (Second edition - 2011)
- Report and Recommendations (First edition - 2001)
Meetings of providers of OECD Income Distribution data:
- 18-19 February 2016
- 21-22 February 2013
16-17 March 2009: Joint OECD/University of Maryland International Conference Measuring Poverty, Income Inequality, and Social Exclusion - Lessons from Europe,
Measurement of Low Incomes and Poverty in a Perspective of International Comparisons; Labour Market and Social Policy Occasional Paper No.14 (1994)

OTHER INTERNATIONAL DATABASES RELATED TO INCOME DISTRIBUTION

Income and living conditions in Europe (Eurostat)
Luxembourg Income Study (LIS)
World Inequality Database (Paris School of Economics)
World Income Inequality Database (UNU-WIDER WIID)
All The Ginis Dataset (World Bank)
Chartbook of Economic Inequality (Atkinson and Morelli)

Quality reviews (IDD)

This quality review (December 2012) is in three main parts:
-Part I reports the results of a first self-assessment of different quality dimensions of the OECD Database on Household Income Distribution and Poverty (.pdf)
-Part II assesses the cross-country comparability of the OECD Earnings Distribution Database (.pdf)
-Part III provides detailed country data reviews on income distribution data, for the 34 OECD member countries. These country reviews compare the OECD benchmark series for income distribution and poverty reporting with alternative estimates which are available on a national or international basis - each country separately (.pdf) including revised versions:

See also external Review of the OECD Income Distribution Database - The Journal of Economic Inequality - December 2015, Volume 13, Issue 4, pp 579–602

THE new 2020 edition of the OECD "COMPARE YOUR INCOME" WEB TOOL

How much do you earn compared with others in your country? Do you feel rich, poor, or just average? In only a few clicks, you can see where you fit in your country's income distribution. This new 2020 edition explores how your perceptions of income inequality impact your willingness to support redistribution initiatives, and allows you to have a say in what areas are most important to you for public spending.

Social policies and data

OECD Income (IDD) and Wealth (WDD) Distribution Databases

OECD Income Distribution Database (IDD)

OECD Wealth Distribution Database (WDD)