Longleng recorded Nagaland’s highest income inequality, while new report highlighted widening wealth gaps across rural and urban districts
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DIMAPUR — Longleng district recorded the highest income inequality among Nagaland districts, with a Gini coefficient of 0.492, while Phek district reported the lowest income disparity with a Gini coefficient of 0.366.
In rural areas, Longleng district recorded the highest income inequality with a Gini coefficient of 0.456, whereas Zunheboto district registered the lowest rural income disparity with a Gini coefficient of 0.330.
In urban areas too, Longleng district recorded the highest income inequality with a Gini coefficient of 0.509, while Zunheboto district had the lowest urban income disparity with a Gini coefficient of 0.359.
This was revealed in the ‘Report on Income Disparity in Nagaland,’ released by Chief Secretary Sentiyanger Imchen in March this year.
According to a DIPR update on Thursday, the report was the outcome of a project undertaken under the central sector scheme of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), Support for Statistical Strengthening Sub-Scheme, in collaboration with the University of Hyderabad.
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It stated that the field survey for the report was conducted between October and December 2024, and the data pertains to the 2024 calendar year.
The state-wide sample comprised 4,396 households. Of these, 1,315 households from 60 wards were surveyed in urban areas, while 3,080 households from 140 villages were surveyed in rural areas.
The report stated that Nagaland’s overall Gini coefficient stands at 0.46, indicating high income inequality in the state.
The Gini coefficient for rural Nagaland was recorded at 0.42, while urban Nagaland registered 0.44, suggesting that urban income inequality is only marginally higher than rural inequality.
In terms of income distribution, the report noted that the bottom 50% of households receive around 18% of the state’s total income, whereas the top 5% receive about 21% of the gross income.
Regarding average monthly income, the report stated that the top 5% of households earn a mean monthly income of INR 71,028, while the bottom 50% earn an average monthly income of only INR 1,639.