The World Inequality Report 2026 is the most authoritative and wide-ranging account available of global trends in inequality. Drawing on the work of more than 200 researchers worldwide, the report builds on the 2018 and 2022 editions to provide policymakers, scholars, and the wider public with up-to-date information about an ever-broader range of forms of inequality that have previously been hard to trace. Inequality has increasingly taken center stage in public debate as the wealthiest individuals in most parts of the world have seen their share of economic resources rise sharply relative to the majority of the population. The resulting political, social, and climate pressures have created urgent new challenges for governments and a growing demand for reliable data. The World Inequality Lab, based at the Paris School of Economics, has responded by documenting and analyzing the evolution of income and wealth inequality across all regions of the world. This new report not only provides up-to-date evidence on the history of inequality and on disparities within and between regions, across gender, climate, and taxation, but also presents new analysis of financial privilege and unequal exchange in the global financial system and examines how inequality shapes political behavior. The World Inequality Report 2026 will be an essential resource for anyone concerned about one of the most urgent and contentious subjects in contemporary politics and economics.
