National income distribution: a countrywise analysis

Purpose- This study aims to analyze the changes in income distribution for selected developing countries over a time period in between 2015 and 2022, 8 years of observations. It hypothesizes that Covid19 pandemic period of 2020 and 2021 significantly impacted income distribution in all developing countries investigated. Methodology- Income distribution data for this study are extracted from the World Inequality Database addressing household income adjusted for after-tax income. Each household’s income is equally divided among the adult population aged 20 or older. The data are categorized into 10% income groups resulting in ten distinct income levels for the analysis. The study examines income distribution of five developing comprising Turkiye, Czechia, Greece, Hungary, and Romania. Findings- The top 10% of the population in the developing countries take 33% of national income on average. The average per capita income was $34,849 in 2015 and increased to $42,610 in 2022 after a dip of with a similar Covid19 dip. However, social policies generally failed resulting in income shifting from lower and middle-income groups to the top 30%. Conclusion- All countries implemented various social programs to support those most affected by Covid19. The social policies and measures implemented by governments to mitigate the effects of Covid19 appear to have been more successful in some of the developing countries comparing to the other developing countries. Although the developing countries could manage to increase their overall national income, they failed to restore their pre-pandemic income distribution. Significant income transfer occurred from the bottom 20% and middle 50% to the top 30% in these countries. Keywords: Income distribution, personal income distribution, income inequality, developed countries. JEL Codes: D30, O15, E64