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The distribution of consumption expenditure in Sub-Saharan Africa : the inequality among all Africans

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  • Jirasavetakul,La-Bhus Fah
  • Lakner,Christoph

Abstract

This paper uses a set of national household surveys to study the regional Sub-Saharan Africa distribution of consumption expenditure among individuals during 1993 to 2008. The analysis puts the disparities in living standards that exist among persons in Africa into context with the disparities that exist within and between African countries. Regional interpersonal inequality has increased (from a Gini index of 52 percent in 1993 to 56 percent in 2008), driven by increasing disparities in living standards across countries, while there has been no systematic increase in within-country inequality. For the African distribution as a whole, growth of consumption expenditure (from household surveys) has been low (around 1 percent per year). This growth has been uneven and as a result the richest 5 percent of Africans received around 40 percent of the total gains, while the bottom third stagnated.

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  • Jirasavetakul,La-Bhus Fah & Lakner,Christoph, 2016. "The distribution of consumption expenditure in Sub-Saharan Africa : the inequality among all Africans," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7557, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7557
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    Cited by:

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    2. Wako, Hassen Abda, 2018. "Foreign direct investment in sub-Saharan Africa: Beyond its growth effect," MERIT Working Papers 2018-013, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    3. Ismael Fofana & Margaret Chitiga & Ramos Emmanuel Mabugu, 2023. "Is Africa on Track to Ending Poverty by 2030?," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 32(Supplemen), pages 87-98.
    4. Rory Horner & David Hulme, 2017. "Converging divergence? Unpacking the new geography of 21st century global development," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 102017, GDI, The University of Manchester.

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    Keywords

    Pro-Poor Growth; Equity and Development; Achieving Shared Growth;
    All these keywords.

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