Eurostat: The richest 20% of Romanians earn 8.3 times more than the poorest 20%

Romania was the EU Member State with the highest ratio for inequality of income distribution in 2015, as the country’s richest 20% earned 8.3 times more than the poorest 20%, according to data from EU’s statistical office Eurostat. At EU level, the top 20% of the population (those with the highest equivalised disposable income) had 5.2 times higher income than the bottom 20% (the ones with the lowest equivalised disposable income). The ratio varied from 3.5 in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, to 6.0 or more in Portugal, Estonia, Latvia, Greece, Spain, Bulgaria and Lithuania, peaking at 8.3 in Romania. Among the non-member countries, Iceland (3.4) and Norway (3.5) reported particularly low ratios for the inequality of income distribution, while in Turkey (8.7, 2013 data) and Serbia (9.0) the ratios were higher than in any of the EU Member States. In Romania, the level of inequality of income distribution has increased considerably in the past years, from a ratio of 6.1 in 2010, to 6.2 in 2011, 6.6 in 2012, 6.8 in 2013, 7.2 in 2014, and 8.3 in 2015. European Commission: Income inequality is growing in Romania Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com