Introduction
The World Inequality Lab is a research centre based at the Paris School of Economics in Paris, France, that studies the causes, dynamics, and consequences of economic inequality across the world. It brings together social scientists working on income, wealth, tax, climate, land, and political inequality, and aims to make inequality research accessible to the public, policymakers, civil society, and the media. Its own homepage describes its mission as helping everyone understand the drivers of global inequality through evidence-based research.
Core purpose
The Lab’s work is centered on producing reliable and comparable data on inequality and using that data to inform public debate. Its goal is not only academic publication, but also the creation of open tools and reports that make global inequality understandable across countries and over time.
Its broad purpose can be understood through three functions:
• producing inequality research
• building open global datasets
• informing debate on economic justice, democracy, and sustainability
Main areas of work
The World Inequality Lab works on multiple dimensions of inequality. Based on its official projects and reports, the main themes include:
• income inequality
• wealth inequality
• land inequality
• climate inequality
• political cleavages and social inequality
• historical inequality trends
• global justice and redistribution
• public and private investment in human capital
This shows that the Lab does not treat inequality as only a question of wages or poverty. It studies inequality as a broad structural issue linked with property, taxation, public policy, climate, and political power.
Major projects
The official site highlights several important projects.
World Inequality Database
This is one of the most important outputs associated with the Lab. The site describes it as the most comprehensive open source database for global inequality data. It is widely used in research and public policy discussions.
World Inequality Report
The Lab regularly produces the World Inequality Report, which provides global analysis of trends in income and wealth inequality. The homepage currently highlights the World Inequality Report 2026 as its latest major analytical publication.
Climate Inequality Report
The Lab also works on the relationship between wealth inequality and the climate crisis. The homepage currently features a Climate Inequality Report 2025.
Global Justice Project
The site presents this as an upcoming collective research initiative aimed at shaping a fairer, more democratic, and sustainable twenty-first century.
Other databases
The Lab also hosts or supports specialized databases and research tools such as:
• World Sectoral Economy-Environment Database
• Political Cleavages and Social Inequalities project
• World Historical Balance of Payments Database
• World Human Capital Expenditure Database
This reflects the expanding scope of the Lab’s work beyond traditional inequality measurement.
Importance
The World Inequality Lab is important because it has become one of the most visible global centres for inequality research. Its importance lies in three things:
• it produces open-access and cross-country comparable data
• it shapes international debate on inequality, taxation, and redistribution
• it links inequality research with broader concerns such as democracy, climate, and development
In practical terms, the Lab has become influential because it helps turn inequality from a vague political slogan into a measurable and research-based subject.
