Lisbon, July 25, 2025 (Lusa) - Inequality in income distribution in Portugal fell again in 2023, by 0.2 percentage points, the National Statistics Institute (INE) announced on Friday, although this reduction slowed down.
According to data released today by INE in its Local Income Statistics for 2023, the Gini coefficient (an indicator that summarises income distribution imbalance in a single figure) was 35.5% in Portugal, compared to 35.7% in 2022.
The document published last year also showed a reduction in income distribution imbalance, which stood at 0.4 percentage points (35.7% compared to 36.1% in 2021).
On the other hand, according to INE, between 2022 and 2023, 210 areas showed a reduction in the disparity in net income per person (the Azorean municipality of Lagoa had the largest reduction, down 2.5 percentage points), although this was still fewer districts than the 239 recorded between 2021 and 2022.
The 2023 data, released today, conclude that in 31 municipalities "income inequality was higher than the national average", with Lisbon in the lead (42.6%), followed by the municipality of Vila do Porto (on the island of Santa Maria, Azores, with 42.5%), Porto (41.8%) and Cascais (40.2%).
Of the 31 areas with figures above the national reference, nine are in the North region (Porto, Resende, Macedo de Cavaleiros, Chaves, Lamego, Matosinhos, Caminha, Montalegre and Vila Real), seven in the Autonomous Region of the Azores (Vila do Porto, Lagoa, Vila Franca do Campo, Povoação, Ponta Delgada, São Roque do Pico and Ribeira Grande), four in the Algarve (Aljezur, Loulé, Faro and Tavira), another four in Greater Lisbon (Lisbon, Cascais, Oeiras and Mafra), three in the Autonomous Region of Madeira (Calheta, Funchal and Ponta do Sol), three in the Setúbal Peninsula (Alcochete, Almada and Montijo) and Coimbra in the Central Region.
According to INE, the local authorities with the lowest levels of income inequality in 2023 were "mainly located in the interior of the Centre, West and Tagus Valley and Alentejo regions".
Alandroal (Alentejo) and Pampilhosa da Serra (Centre) were the areas with the lowest Gini coefficients in the country (27.1%), it pointed out.
And while Alto Tâmega e Barroso was the sub-region with the lowest Gini coefficient between municipalities (and therefore the most egalitarian in terms of income distribution), with the lowest figure recorded in Boticas (34.3%) and the highest in Chaves (36.1%), the greatest differences between districts were observed in Greater Lisbon (between 42.6% in Lisbon and 31% in Vila Franca de Xira) and in the Metropolitan Area of Porto, between the municipalities of Porto (41.8%) and Oliveira de Azeméis (30.4%).
JLS/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
