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Top 10% income share in Hong Kong

48.18

% of pre-tax national income, 2024

Low trust, 55 of 100 Only one source (WID), so it cannot be checked against another.

Each source by year: % of pre-tax national income
02040601980199020002010202020241981: WID: WID grades 1981 as tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form (data-quality grade 4), after linear interpolation between two estimates the year before.1982: WID: WID grades 1982–1985 as linear interpolation between two estimates (data-quality grade 2), after tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form the year before.1986: WID: WID grades 1986 as tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form (data-quality grade 4), after linear interpolation between two estimates the year before.1987: WID: WID grades 1987–1990 as linear interpolation between two estimates (data-quality grade 2), after tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form the year before.1991: WID: WID grades 1991 as tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form (data-quality grade 4), after linear interpolation between two estimates the year before.1992: WID: WID grades 1992–1995 as linear interpolation between two estimates (data-quality grade 2), after tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form the year before.1996: WID: WID grades 1996 as tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form (data-quality grade 4), after linear interpolation between two estimates the year before.1997: WID: WID grades 1997–2000 as linear interpolation between two estimates (data-quality grade 2), after tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form the year before.2001: WID: WID grades 2001 as tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form (data-quality grade 4), after linear interpolation between two estimates the year before.2002: WID: WID grades 2002–2005 as linear interpolation between two estimates (data-quality grade 2), after tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form the year before.2006: WID: WID grades 2006 as tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form (data-quality grade 4), after linear interpolation between two estimates the year before.2007: WID: WID grades 2007–2010 as linear interpolation between two estimates (data-quality grade 2), after tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form the year before.2011: WID: WID grades 2011 as tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form (data-quality grade 4), after linear interpolation between two estimates the year before.2012: WID: WID grades 2012–2015 as linear interpolation between two estimates (data-quality grade 2), after tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form the year before.2016: WID: WID grades 2016 as tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form (data-quality grade 4), after linear interpolation between two estimates the year before.2017: WID: WID grades 2017–2020 as linear interpolation between two estimates (data-quality grade 2), after tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form the year before.

Recorded change in how a source reports; hover or focus the ring for details.

Show the data as a table
YearWorld Inequality Database, top 10% pre-tax national income share
198041.91
198141.91
198242.33
198342.63
198442.9
198543.12
198643.33
198744.09
198844.6
198944.97
199045.26
199145.48
199244.48
199343.68
199443.04
199542.51
199642.05
199742.5
199842.95
199943.38
200043.8
200144.12
200245.46
200346.63
200447.73
200548.76
200649.72
200749.67
200849.61
200949.56
201049.52
201149.47
201249.19
201348.93
201448.67
201548.42
201648.18
201748.18
201848.18
201948.18
202048.18
202148.18
202248.18
202348.18
202448.18

All countriesAll of Hong Kong's figuresCompare

Hong Kong among 216 countries

66 have a higher figure and 149 a lower one. Definitions differ between countries, and their years run from 2011 to 2024.

Lowest: Kiribati, 20.9Highest: Iraq, 70.85
What this number counts
Counts
Share of national income received by the top 10% of adults, before taxes and transfers
Where
Hong Kong SAR, China
When
Latest year available: WID 2024; series from 1980 (one year, not an average)

The figure from WID, the only source that counts here.

Where the number comes from (1 source)
SourceFigure and yearDefinitionQualityCounts for
World Inequality Database, top 10% pre-tax national income shareWorld Inequality Lab (World Inequality Database) · Model-based estimateRetrieved 2026-10-27 · Data (zip file)
48.182024
Share of pre-tax national income received by the top 10% of adults (age 20 and over), with income split equally between spouses (WID variable sptinc992j, percentile p90p100).

Pre-tax national income is income before taxes and transfers but after pensions, scaled to national-accounts national income, so it includes income that households do not report in surveys, such as retained company profits.

Raw file: WID_data_HK.csv and WID_metadata_HK.csv in the WID bulk download (wid_all_data.zip, dated 15 October 2026); only the sptincj992 p90p100 rows were kept, in raw/income-inequality-by-country/wid/. Values are WID shares times 100. WID data-quality grade for 2024: 1 (carried forward or backward from the nearest estimate). WID method note for this country: ""

3 of 5 checks
  • Yes: Method and definitions published. WID publishes its concepts (DINA guidelines), a method note per country and a grade for every year.
  • No: Official statistics or peer-reviewed. Academic estimates by the World Inequality Lab, not official statistics; country series are released through working papers and technical notes, not each peer-reviewed.
  • Yes: Full count or representative sample. Built from tax and/or survey data for 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016 (WID grade 3 or higher).
  • Yes: Raw data downloadable. The whole database is a free bulk download (CSV).
  • No: No known break or quality problem. WID marks years as imputed, not observed: 2021–2024 carried forward or backward from the nearest estimate (grade 1); 1980, 1982–1985, 1987–1990, 1992–1995, 1997–2000, 2002–2005, 2007–2010, 2012–2015, 2017–2020 linear interpolation between two estimates (grade 2).
100%

Better and more direct sources count for more. A source that only copies another does not count.

  • WID100%
How the trust score was worked out
Quality24 / 40

How well the sources are made

Agreement15 / 30

Unknown with one source, so set to half

Independence6 / 20

How many separate ways the number was measured

Freshness10 / 10

How recent the newest data is

How the score works

Who reports it, and since when

Which kinds of source measure this number, which years each one published, and where the reporting stops or has holes.

No source of these kinds: official economic statistics.

  • Single source: nothing to check it against
  • WID, 1981: WID grades 1981 as tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form (data-quality grade 4), after linear interpolation between two estimates the year before. source
  • WID, 1982: WID grades 1982–1985 as linear interpolation between two estimates (data-quality grade 2), after tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form the year before. source
  • WID, 1986: WID grades 1986 as tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form (data-quality grade 4), after linear interpolation between two estimates the year before. source
  • WID, 1987: WID grades 1987–1990 as linear interpolation between two estimates (data-quality grade 2), after tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form the year before. source
  • WID, 1991: WID grades 1991 as tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form (data-quality grade 4), after linear interpolation between two estimates the year before. source
  • WID, 1992: WID grades 1992–1995 as linear interpolation between two estimates (data-quality grade 2), after tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form the year before. source
  • WID, 1996: WID grades 1996 as tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form (data-quality grade 4), after linear interpolation between two estimates the year before. source
  • WID, 1997: WID grades 1997–2000 as linear interpolation between two estimates (data-quality grade 2), after tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form the year before. source
  • WID, 2001: WID grades 2001 as tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form (data-quality grade 4), after linear interpolation between two estimates the year before. source
  • WID, 2002: WID grades 2002–2005 as linear interpolation between two estimates (data-quality grade 2), after tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form the year before. source
  • WID, 2006: WID grades 2006 as tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form (data-quality grade 4), after linear interpolation between two estimates the year before. source
  • WID, 2007: WID grades 2007–2010 as linear interpolation between two estimates (data-quality grade 2), after tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form the year before. source
  • WID, 2011: WID grades 2011 as tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form (data-quality grade 4), after linear interpolation between two estimates the year before. source
  • WID, 2012: WID grades 2012–2015 as linear interpolation between two estimates (data-quality grade 2), after tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form the year before. source
  • WID, 2016: WID grades 2016 as tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form (data-quality grade 4), after linear interpolation between two estimates the year before. source
  • WID, 2017: WID grades 2017–2020 as linear interpolation between two estimates (data-quality grade 2), after tax and survey data, at least one in tabulated form the year before. source
Years each source has a figure here
'00'05'10'15'20'24WID

figure no figure here, inside its range no later figure recorded change

Why the numbers differ
  • Income concept: WID measures pre-tax national income, which adds income households do not receive in cash or do not report, such as retained company profits, so that the total matches national accounts. The World Bank uses income or consumption as reported in household surveys, and the OECD uses disposable income after taxes and transfers.
  • Unit: WID ranks adults and splits income equally between spouses. The World Bank ranks people by household income or consumption per person. The OECD ranks people by household disposable income divided by the square root of household size.
  • Data source: surveys miss part of the income at the top. WID adds tax records where it has them and otherwise corrects survey data with models or regional averages; its data-quality grade for each year says which.
  • Measure: a Gini index summarises the whole distribution and the top decile's share describes one group, so the two can move differently. The Gini indexes are shown in their own sets for the featured countries.
  • Consumption and income: for many countries in Africa and Asia the World Bank survey measures consumption, which is spread more evenly than income, so those shares are not comparable with income shares elsewhere.
  • Not independent everywhere: for countries without tax data, such as Nigeria and South Africa, WID builds its series from World Bank survey tabulations, which each row's WID note states.
Common mistakes
  • Reading WID figures for the latest year as observed: WID carries the last estimate forward for most countries and grades those years as imputed. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
  • Comparing a pre-tax share with an after-tax one: taxes and transfers lower the measured inequality, so WID pre-tax shares and OECD disposable-income figures answer different questions. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
  • Treating the World Bank series as yearly: values exist only for survey years, and the survey measure (income or consumption) can differ between countries and years. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
Download, cite and report an error

From the table How much of each country's income goes to the top 10%, and how has that changed since 1980? Updated 2026-10-27.

Download every value in this table (CSV)

Cite as: RealStats, “Top 10% income share in Hong Kong”, updated 2026-10-27, with the original sources listed on the page.

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