In Italy, income inequality is at its lowest since 2014, but remains beyond the EU

In Italy, income inequality fell in 2025 to the lowest levels since 2014, but remains higher than the European average and is accompanied by a still high risk of poverty. According to the latest Eurostat data, the Gini coefficient which measures the distribution of disposable income (zero for perfect equality with an equal share of income for the entire population and 100 for complete inequality with a person having the entire income of the country) has gone from 32.2 in 2024 to 31.0.

But the figure remains significantly higher than the EU average which dropped from 29.4 to 29.2. If you look at the inequality index before social transfers (excluding pensions) the index in Italy is at 35.1, down from 36.3 in 2024 but still higher than the EU average (34.1). In practice, social transfers have a significant impact on reducing inequalities but less than what happens on average in Europe. The risk of poverty overall for all age groups (the share of people with an equivalent disposable income lower than 60% of the national median equivalent disposable income net of social transfers) in 2025 was 16.3% in the EU while in Italy it was 18.6% (down from 18.9% in 2024) and in France at 16.3%, in line with the EU average but increasing from 15.9% in 2024. Inequalities are amplified for women.

According to the fourth edition of the Women Economic Forum Italy, inaugurated today in Turin, the gender gap in income exceeds 40% in Italy, compared to an OECD average of 35%. Globally, women represent approximately 25-30% of the AI ​​workforce and less than 15% of the industry's leadership roles.

And while the protests continue with thousands of young people in the streets, the demonstrations over high fuel prices, the marches against the wars and the announcements on the occupation of schools, the numbers tell us that in Italy for the under 18s the index on the distribution of inequality is still in sharp decline, at 29.3 compared to 31.1 in 2024 even if above the EU average which is 28.6. In 2025 in Italy the situation has also improved slightly with regards to income inequalities. According to Eurostat tables, the first quintile, i.e. the 20% of the population that has the lowest income, has an overall percentage of income that has risen to 7.5% from 7.2% (in the EU from 8.2% to 8.3%). However, the distance remains significant compared to the wealthier segment of the population which reports the highest but decreasing incomes: in 2025 it concentrated 38.7% of incomes compared to 39.6% in 2024 (37.6% in the EU). Among EU countries, in 2025, the Gini coefficient fluctuated from a low of 23.0 in Slovakia to a high of 37.7 in Bulgaria.

After Slovakia, the countries with the most equal income distribution were Belgium (23.4), Czechia (24.0), Slovenia (24.6) and Poland (24.9). At the other end of the distribution, after Bulgaria came Latvia (35.6) and Lithuania (35.5). As regards minors, Bulgaria is the country with the greatest inequality of disposable income (41.4) while Belgium, with a Gini coefficient of 20.6, is the country with the lowest inequality index. In Germany the inequality index among those under 18 is at 29.3, as in Italy, while in France it is higher, at 30.7, an increase compared to 30.4 in 2024. France is the country in which the rate of people at risk of poverty among minors has grown the most, rising from 18.2% in 2019 to 22.8%. The risk of poverty among the very young also rose in Germany while in Italy it decreased from 24.5% to 23.2% (stable in 2024), although still well above the European average. In the EU the average in 2025 was 19.6%.