Data for Latin America and the Caribbean suggest a varied, yet
gravely unequal, region (Figure 13). Much of this appears to be
rooted in historically unequal patterns in land tenure, ethnic
discrimination and limited taxation coupled with the more recent
effects of privatization and liberalization beginning in the early
1990s. Since 2000, however, the region has demonstrated significant
signs of progress on the equality front, as 16 of the 21 countries
with data experienced a decline in their Gini index between 2000
and 2008. Much of this reflects the combination of macroeconomic
and social protection policies, which have been adopted widely
throughout the region (Cornia and Martorano 2010, Lopez-Calva
and Lustig 2010). According to Solt (2009), some of the Latin
American countries that have recorded the largest improvements in
inequality since 2000 include Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, El
Salvador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay and Peru, all of which reduced
their Gini indices by more than two points.
Compared to other regions, the Middle East and North Africa
presents a more challenging assessment (Figure 14). This largely
reflects the limited availability of data. For the observations that are
afforded, however, two major trends appear. The first is that there
appears to be general parity across the region in terms of income
equality. Second, it seems that there has been very little change over
time in either direction, whether improving or worsening equality.
The exception here appears to be Yemen, which increased its Gini
index by five points from 2000-08 according to Solt (2009). Yet
such findings should be taken with caution. In particular, the wave
of social unrest that swept across the Middle East and North Africa
in early 2011 suggests that, perhaps, levels of inequality are more
severe than official estimates indicate.
(^33)
Although Sub-Saharan Africa, on the aggregate, has some of the
highest income inequalities in the world, there is a trend toward
improvement (Figure 15). Since the 1990s, the biggest reductions
have been reported in Cameroon, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho,
Malawi, Senegal and Sierra Leone, all of which reduced their Gini
(^33) This paper does not question the reliability of income distribution information
reported in the main sources used for this analysis (e.g. Egypt and Pakistan
appear as equal as France). See Annex 1 for description of caveats.