Rich-poor gap drops for sixth year in a row

Migrant workers look up at skyscrapers in Shanghai on Nov 3, 2013. The disposable income of residents in China is on the increase. [Photo/IC]

An index reflecting the gap between rich and poor dropped for a sixth consecutive year in China, but remains higher than the global warning level, data showed Tuesday.

The Gini coefficient stood at 0.469 in 2014 after hitting a peak 0.491 in 2008, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

Average disposable income of Chinese residents rose 8 percent in real terms to 20,167 yuan ($3,294), faster than 7.4 percent economic growth, the NBS said.

The disposable income of rural residents increased 9.2 percent year on year, while that for urban residents rose 6.8 percent.

According to international or World Bank standards, if the Gini coefficient, developed by Italian statistician and sociologist Corrado Gini in the early 20th century, is above 0.4, the economy has much to do to improve income distribution.

An index of zero means pure equality, while an index of one means extreme inequality.

China's index has been retreating since 2008, dropping to 0.49 in 2009, 0.481 in 2010, 0.477 in 2011, 0.474 in 2012 and 0.473 in 2013.

The index stood at 0.479 in 2003, 0.473 in 2004, 0.485 in 2005, 0.487 in 2006 and 0.484 in 2007.