Inequality
Not everyone has benefited from economic change in China. Today there is a very small percentage of rich people and a growing number of people who consider themselves well off.
Wealth and poverty
A very small number of Chinese people are super rich.
In 2022, mainland China was home to 115,580 ultra high net worth families, meaning they own 100 million 楼 (Yuan) (拢11.2 million) or more of assets (Source: Hurun China Wealth Report, 2022). This is less than 0.01% of the population.
The super rich own some of the best properties in China (and abroad), drive top of the range cars, access world class leisure faciliites and have expensive tastes in clothing, wine, food and luxury goods.
In contrast, millions of poor people in China struggle to meet their needs.
Gini index
The level of income inequality within a country is measured by the Gini index. Its score (the 鈥楪ini coefficient鈥) summarises this level of inequality. A score above 40 means inequality is high.
In 2021, China鈥檚 Gini coefficient was 46.6 (Source: World Bank). This compares to 34.4 for the UK and 37.5 for the USA.
Urban-rural divide
As well as a growing rich-poor divide in China, there is large rich-poor divide between urban (city) 鈥 rural (countryside) areas, although this has narrowed in recent years.
Wealthy people are more likely to be found in the east of the country or in cities such as the capital, Beijing, or China鈥檚 most populated city, Shanghai.
In 2013, the average annual disposable income for urban households was 26, 467 楼 (approximately 拢2, 960). By 2020, this had risen by 66% to 43,834 楼 (拢4, 903).
For rural households, the 2013 figure was much lower, at 9, 430 楼 (拢1, 055). This rose by more, 82%, to 17, 131 楼 (拢1. 916) in 2020 (Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China).
Over this period, urban-rural inequality has gone down. In 2013, the average annual disposable income for urban households was 2.81 times that of rural households. By 2020 this had narrowed, with urban households having 2.55 time the disposable income of rural households (Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China).