Race Is Top Factor in World’s Most Unequal Nation, Report Shows
- Southern African Customs Union is world’s most unequal region
- While inequality has reduced, the pandemic exacerbated it
Race “remains a key driver of South Africa’s high inequality through its impact on both education and labor-market outcomes,” the World Bank said.
Photographer: Dwayne Senior/BloombergRace plays the biggest role in driving inequality in South Africa, the world’s most unequal country where the richest 10% of the population own more than four-fifths of financial assets, according to the World Bank.
More than two decades after the end of apartheid, race’s contribution to income inequality amounted to 41%, with education at 30%, the bank said in a report released Wednesday titled Inequality in Southern Africa. The neighbors of Africa’s most-industrialized economy, which comprise the Southern African Customs Union -- Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia -- are all among the world’s most unequal, making the region the worst globally, it said.