The Gini of shanghai

The Gini of Shanghai

City size remains the key explanatory factor for income inequality.

The population of metropolitan Shanghai has grown from 11 million to about 23 million in the last 2 decades.

The so called Gini coefficient, is a gauge that measures this economic income inequality based in the income distribution.

Shanghai‘s Gini coefficient has grown sharply over the past two decades

While China has one of the most rapidly growing economies in the world, income inequality is still a major challenge as a large portion of the country's population lives below the national poverty level.

Most of the poor in the city are among the five million that have arrived into Shanghai in search of a better life, but remain stripped of their rights to register in the city, obtain legal work or own a flat. Urban immigrants in China live on the urban fringe, often work for extremely low wages.

Official calculations of income distribution, in fact, do not even include the so-called floating population (or non-registered) population in Shanghai.

At the other end of the spectrum, many urban households are experiencing unprecedented growth of their incomes.

The rising incomes positively impact consumer spending as increasingly well-off households are eager to purchase previously unavailable property and durable goods.