Global Prosperity Gap: Regional Trends and Shifting Contributions
A new analysis of global development data highlights how the prosperity gap—the disparity in economic and social well-being between regions—has evolved since 1990. The findings reveal significant progress in narrowing gaps in some parts of the world, while other regions continue to face persistent challenges.
Declining Global Prosperity Gap
The left-hand chart (a) tracks regional prosperity gap trends from 1990 to 2020, with projections through 2025. It shows that global disparities have steadily decreased, particularly since the early 2000s.
East Asia and Pacific: Once a major contributor to global inequality, the region has made the fastest progress, with its prosperity gap plummeting after 2000. This reflects rapid industrialization, economic growth, and poverty reduction, particularly in China.
South Asia: Also recorded a significant decline in its gap, though not as sharp as East Asia. Ongoing improvements in education, healthcare, and economic reforms have fueled this progress.
Sub-Saharan Africa: While there has been some reduction, the region continues to display one of the highest prosperity gaps. Projections suggest only modest improvements without major policy shifts.
Europe and Central Asia: Maintains a consistently low gap, reflecting relatively balanced prosperity within the region.
Latin America and the Caribbean & Middle East and North Africa: Both regions show gradual reductions, though inequality and structural economic issues remain obstacles.
Overall, the world average prosperity gap has declined, but progress is uneven, with projections showing further narrowing if current trends continue.
Shifts in Regional Contributions
The right-hand chart (b) illustrates regional contributions to the global prosperity gap from 1991 to 2024.
In the early 1990s, East Asia and the Pacific accounted for the largest share, close to half of the global gap. By the 2020s, this had fallen dramatically as economic growth reduced disparities.
South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa now represent the largest shares. Sub-Saharan Africa’s contribution has grown steadily, highlighting the region as the new focal point of global inequality.
Latin America, the Middle East, and Europe contribute much smaller proportions, though inequality within these regions remains a domestic concern.
The “rest of the world” share has remained relatively stable, reflecting moderate but uneven prosperity improvements globally.
What the Data Means
The charts highlight both success stories and ongoing challenges. East Asia’s rapid transformation shows how sustained investment, reforms, and global integration can close prosperity gaps within a generation. South Asia is following a similar trajectory, though at a slower pace.
Sub-Saharan Africa, however, underscores the complexity of the challenge—structural poverty, conflict, governance issues, and climate vulnerability continue to hold back progress. Without substantial international support and domestic reforms, its share of the global prosperity gap is projected to remain high.
Looking Ahead
The global prosperity gap has narrowed considerably since 1990, but its composition is shifting. The burden is increasingly concentrated in fewer regions, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. This makes targeted policy, investment in education and healthcare, and inclusive economic growth essential to achieving global development goals.
The data offers a clear message: while globalization and regional reforms have delivered progress, the fight against inequality is far from over. The next decade will determine whether the prosperity gap continues to close—or whether progress stalls in the regions most in need.
