The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated global income inequality, partly reversing the decline of the previous two decades. Weak recoveries in emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) are expected to raise between-country inequality. Within-country income inequality is also estimated to have increased somewhat in EMDEs because of severe job and income losses among lower-income population groups. Rising inflation, as well as pandemic-related disruptions in education could further increase within-country inequality in the longer run. Reversing the increase in global income inequality requires measures to reduce between-country and within-country inequality, underpinned by support from the global community.

The COVID-19 pandemic jeopardizes the progress made in reducing global income inequality achieved in the previous two decades. In contrast to the global financial crisis of 2008-10, the deep recession triggered by the pandemic and the lagging economic recovery in EMDEs have raised income inequality. - blog.wb.org/blogs

A version of this article appears in the print on February 11, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.