Prosperity gap in Australia

Australia: Prosperity gap was 1.16 in 2020. ▼ Falling

Latest (2020)
1.16
Change on year
up 20.8%
World rank
95th
of 120 countries
All-time high
1.53
in 1995
All-time low
0.867
in 2016
Years of data
13
1981–2020

Prosperity gap in Australia, 1981–2020

00.511.51981200020201981: 1.31985: 1.41989: 1.31995: 1.52001: 1.42003: 1.52004: 1.22008: 0.9092010: 0.9042014: 0.9292016: 0.8672018: 0.9582020: 1.2

Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.

Analysis

Australia recorded 1.16 for prosperity gap in 2020.

The figure is up 20.8% on the previous year and up 28.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, prosperity gap in Australia peaked at 1.53 in 1995 and was at its lowest, 0.867, in 2016.

That places Australia 95th out of 120 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 13 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1980s 1.32 1.29 1.37 3
1990s 1.53 1.53 1.53 1
2000s 1.26 0.9088 1.53 4
2010s 0.9142 0.867 0.9577 4
2020s 1.16 1.16 1.16 1

Countries ranked near Australia

  1. 92 Japan 1.2 compare
  2. 93 Malaysia 1.19 compare
  3. 94 Israel 1.18 compare
  4. 96 Germany 1.11 compare
  5. 97 Sweden 1.11 compare
  6. 98 Portugal 1.1 compare

See the full ranking of 120 places →

More reference data data for Australia

All data for Australia →

Frequently asked questions

What is prosperity gap in Australia?
Prosperity gap in Australia was 1.16 in 2020, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest prosperity gap recorded in Australia?
The highest recorded value was 1.53 in 1995.
What is the lowest prosperity gap recorded in Australia?
The lowest recorded value was 0.867 in 2016.
How does Australia rank for prosperity gap?
Australia ranks 95th out of 120 countries with data for 2020.
Is prosperity gap rising or falling in Australia?
Over the last ten years it is up 28.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Australia data come from?
The figures come from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Prosperity gap. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 13 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Prosperity gap
Source
World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
120 places, 2,148 data points, 1963–2025
Last refreshed

Average factor by which incomes need to be multiplied to bring everyone to the prosperity standard of $28 per person per day.