WID.world Offers Unique Approach to Global Inequality Data
WID.world provides a distinctive resource for understanding global economic inequality, setting itself apart from traditional data providers like the OECD and the World Bank. The platform distinguishes its approach by integrating national accounts, survey data, and fiscal data, a method it claims offers more reliable and comprehensive estimates of income and wealth distribution, particularly at the top tiers.
Conventional data sources, primarily relying on household surveys, often struggle to accurately capture top incomes and wealth shares due to their self-reporting nature. WID.world addresses this limitation by systematically combining various data streams, enabling a more precise tracking of income and wealth evolution across all levels of the distribution and over longer historical periods. This innovative approach is a core element of the WID.world project, facilitating robust comparisons between countries.
Beyond inequality data, WID.world also offers unique insights into national accounts. While broadly consistent with international statistical institutions, WID.world’s national accounts data includes detailed series for national wealth, which are often unavailable elsewhere. A key distinguishing factor is the inclusion of corrections for offshore wealth and capital income, ensuring global consistency in foreign capital flow estimates—a feature typically absent in existing databases. Furthermore, WID.world develops new methods to derive consistent global series for the consumption of fixed capital, an area where reliable estimates are often lacking. These methodological choices result in consistent global series for national income (GDP minus consumption of fixed capital plus net foreign income) that are not found in other portals. The platform utilizes the 2011 Purchasing Power Parity round for international comparisons, and notes that Eurozone monetary values are displayed in PPP Euros, which may differ from market exchange rate Euros. All methodological choices are thoroughly described in the metadata for each variable and in associated documents, including the "Distributional National Accounts Guidelines." For specific countries like China, where debates exist regarding price deflators and aggregate real growth, WID.world reviews and combines existing series in a transparent manner, detailed in country-specific papers.
WID.world aims to make complex economic concepts accessible. Users can find definitions for concepts on each graph via a "?" icon, and a quick-search glossary is also available.
For those encountering technical issues with the WID.world platform, the recommended first steps include clearing the browser’s cache, closing and reopening the browser, or attempting to use a different browser. If problems persist, users are advised to contact WID.world via email, providing a detailed description of the issue, along with information about their operating system and browser versions. Contact details are available in the website footer under the "CONTACT US" section.
WID.world operates as a publicly funded, non-profit initiative, supported entirely by public and non-profit actors, as well as personal donations. Further information on WID.world’s history, its network of researchers, and its methodology can be found on its official website. The platform also offers guidance on how to navigate its menus and graphs through a dedicated FAQ section.
