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The present document describes the general structure of the World Inequality Database (WID). It explains how information is organized within it, and how to retrieve and interpret it content.

Section 1 starts by explaining the different ways of accessing the database. Section 2 then explains the general structure of the variables. The other sections describe the different WID codes that exist in the database. Note that this document is mostly dedicated to describing the technical organization of the database. For a more in-depth description of concepts and estimation methods, please refer to the DINA guidelines or our library of papers.

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Table of Contents

• 1. General Presentation
  • 1.1. How to Access the Data on WID.world
    • 1.1.1. Using the Graphing Tools on the Website
    • 1.1.2. Downloading Specific Series
    • 1.1.3. Bulk Download
    • 1.1.4. Packages for Statistical Software (R and Stata)
• 2. General Structure
  • 2.1. Construction of WID Code
    • 2.1.2. One-letter Code for Series Type
    • 2.1.3. Five-letter Code for Series Concept
    • 2.1.4. Three-digit Code for Age Group
    • 2.1.5. One-letter Code for Population Unit
  • 2.2. Country Codes
  • 2.3. Percentile Codes
• 3. Aggregate Income Variables
  • 3.1. Net National Income, GDP, Foreign Incomes, and Consumption of Fixed Capital
    • 3.1.2. GDP and Net National Income
    • 3.1.3. Decomposition of Foreign Income
    • 3.1.4. Decomposition of National Income between Sectors
    • 3.1.5. Labor and Capital Share of National Income
  • 3.2. Income of Households and NPISH
    • 3.2.1. Income of the Sectors Combined
      • 3.2.1.1. Primary Incomes of Households and NPISH
      • 3.2.1.2. Secondary Incomes of Households and NPISH
      • 3.2.1.3. Consumption and Savings of Households and NPISH
      • 3.2.1.4. Relation between Net and Gross Variables
    • 3.2.2. Income of Households
      • 3.2.2.1. Primary Incomes of the Household Sector
      • 3.2.2.2. Secondary Incomes of the Household Sector
      • 3.2.2.3. Consumption and Savings of the Household Sector
      • 3.2.2.4. Relation between Net and Gross Variables
    • 3.2.3. Income of NPISH
      • 3.2.3.1. Primary Incomes of NPISH
      • 3.2.3.2. Secondary Incomes of NPISH
      • 3.2.3.3. Consumption and Savings of NPISH
      • 3.2.3.4. Relation between Net and Gross Variables
  • 3.3. Income of the Corporate Sector
    • 3.3.1. Income the Sectors Combined
      • 3.3.1.1. Primary Income of Corporations
      • 3.3.1.2. Secondary Income of Corporations
      • 3.3.1.3. Relation between Net and Gross Variables
    • 3.3.2. Income of Non-financial Corporations
      • 3.3.2.1. Primary Income of Non-financial Corporations
      • 3.3.2.2. Secondary Income of Non-financial Corporations
      • 3.3.2.3. Relation between Net and Gross Variables
    • 3.3.3. Income of Financial Corporations
      • 3.3.3.1. Primary Income of Financial Corporations
      • 3.3.3.2. Secondary Income of Financial Corporations
      • 3.3.3.3. Relation between Net and Gross Variables
  • 3.4. Income of the Government Sector
    • 3.4.1. Primary Income of the Government
    • 3.4.2. Secondary Income of the Government
    • 3.4.3. Consumption and Savings of the Government
• 4. Distributed Income Variables
  • 4.1. “Fiscal” Income
  • 4.2. DINA Income
    • 4.2.1. Pretax Income
    • 4.2.2. Post-tax Income
    • 4.2.3. Factor Income
• 5. Aggregate Wealth Variables
  • 5.1. National Economy
  • 5.2. Households and NPISH
    • 5.2.1. Combined Sector
    • 5.2.1. Household Sector
    • 5.2.2. NPISH
  • 5.3. Corporate Sector
  • 5.4. General Government Sector
• 6. Distributed Wealth Variables
• 7. Price Index, Exchange Rates, Populations, etc.
  • 7.1. Price Index
  • 7.2. Exchange Rates
  • 7.3. Population
  • 7.4. Wealth/Income Ratios and Labor/Capital Share
  • 7.5. Inequality Transparency

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1. General Presentation

1.1. How to Access the Data on WID.world

Users can take directly take advantage of the graphing capabilities on WID.world to make simple plots. For more advanced analyses, they can download the data and then import it into their preferred statistical software. For two of them (R and Stata), we provide packages to directly access the WID. Overall, we can distinguish four ways of accessing the data on WID.world.

1.1.1. Using the Graphing Tools on the Website

The WID.world website offers several basic graphing capabilities. The “WORLD” section of the website can be used to display the data for all the available countries on a world map, and to plot the same series over time for different countries. The “BY COUNTRY” section of the section can be used to display several series for the same country. In both cases, the variable selection is done via the menu of the left. By default, it suggests a handful of “key indicators” which corresponds to the most common and the most widely available types of indicators requested.

To access other series, choose “more indicators” at the bottom of the menu. This section of the menu is divided into five categories. The two categories “average & total income” and “average & total wealth” refer to macroeconomic aggregates. To select a variable from these categories, click on them, and then choose a concept from the menu that appears. Most concepts can be decomposed into more subconcepts by click on the arrow on their right. The two categories “income inequality” and “wealth inequality” refer to distributed variables. If you choose them, a menu will appear to let you select a concept (top-right corner) and a part of the distribution (or the Gini coefficient). The last category “other indicators” refers to other categories such as prices, exchange rates and populations. Once you have selected a concept, the menu will ask you to specify other characteristics of the series requested (currency, population unit, age group, average/share/aggregate, depending on what is relevant to the context considered).

For country graphs, you can display several series simultaneously, assuming they have the same unit. Buttons on the right of the graph let you share the graph, export it as an image, or export the underlying data. The “?” lets you view the sources and the methodological notes for the data.

1.1.2. Downloading Specific Series

The “DATA” section of the website lets you download series directly. The menu in this section is best suited for downloading a limited number of specific series.

1.1.3. Bulk Download

For user who want to request a large number of series at the same time, we recommend the bulk download options. The button at the bottom-left of the “DATA” section lets user download the entire database at once. Users can also download all of the data relative to a specific country on the country pages.

1.1.4. Packages for Statistical Software (R and Stata)

We have developed two packages to download data from the WID directly from Stata and R. Please refer to the documentation of these packages for more details.

2. General Structure

The precise structure of the WID is mostly of interest to users that download the database in bulk of through the statistical packages in R and Stata.

Every data series in the WID has a WID code (which refers to the concept under consideration), a percentile code (which refers to a specific part of the distribution, if applicable) and a country (or region) code, that refers the area under consideration. Finally, every data point is also associated to a specific year. The WID codes themselves are constructed by combining specific codes for series types, concepts, age groups and population unit.

For example, consider the following:

s	ptinc	992	j	p99p100	US	1970
share	pretax national income	adults	equal-split	top 1%	United States	year
WID code

This refers to the share of pretax national income among equal-split adults (sptinc992j) for the top 1% (p99p100) in the United States (US) in 1970. The sections below detail the different options available in the WID for constructing variables such as the one above.

2.1. Construction of WID Code

2.1.2. One-letter Code for Series Type

The first letter of the WID code is a one-letter code that determines type of series that you are requesting. In many cases, several series type exist for the same concept. For example, consider the pretax national income of the top 1%: you can request their share of income (s), their average income (a) or their threshold (t). Below is the list of all series types.

1-letter code	meaning	unit
a	average	local currency unit, last year’s prices
b	inverted Pareto-Lorenz coefficient	no unit
f	female population	fraction (between 0 and 1)
g	Gini coefficient	Gini coefficient (between 0 and 1)
i	index	no unit
n	population	people
s	share	fraction (between 0 and 1)
t	threshold	local currency unit, last year’s prices
m	total	local currency unit, last year’s prices
p	proportion of women	fraction (between 0 and 1)
w	wealth-to-income ratio or labor/capital share	fraction of national income
x	exchange rate (market or PPP)	local currency unit per foreign currency

The series type determines its unit, as indicated in the table above. All monetary amounts are in local currency at constant prices for countries and country subregions. Monetary amounts for world regions are in EUR PPP. Series are at last year’s prices (the database is usually updated every year at the end of June). To check the year of reference, look at when the price index is equal to 1. You can access the price index using the variable inyixx999i, the PPP exchange rates using xlcusp999i (USD), xlceup999i (EUR), xlcyup999i (CNY), and the market exchange rates using xlcusx999i (USD), xlceux999i (EUR), xlcyux999i (CNY). Shares and wealth/income ratios are given as a fraction of 1. That is, a top 1% share of 20% is given as 0.2. A wealth/income ratio of 300% is given as 3.

2.1.3. Five-letter Code for Series Concept

The second to the sixth letter of the WID code is a five-letter concept code that determines the concept of the requested series. It is usually an income or wealth concept, but can also correspond to auxiliary concepts such as prices indexes, exchange rates, populations, etc.

Common five-letter codes include nninc (national income), ptinc (pretax income), diinc (post-tax income) or fiinc (fiscal income). But there is a great wealth of five-letter codes in the WID that are described in the next sections.

2.1.4. Three-digit Code for Age Group

The three-digit code in WID codes refer to the population group for the variable is requested. The most common codes are 999 (full population), 992 (adult population, i.e. 20 and older) and 996 (working-age population, i.e. from 20 to 65). The full list of population codes is given in the table below.

For aggregate variables, the age code indicates the population denominator for averages. For example, anninc999i refers to national income per capita, whereas anninc992i refers to national income per adult. For distributed variables, the age code refers to the population group receiving the income. For example, sptinc992j refers to the share of pretax income of a that accrues to a given percentile of the adult population, while flinc996i refers to shares of labor income that accrue to a given percentile of the working-age population. For variables to which age groups do not apply (e.g. prices indexes, exchange rates), we use the age code 999 (full population).

age code	description
999	The population is comprised of individuals of all ages.
991	The population is comprised of individuals below age 20.
992	The population is comprised of individuals over age 20.
993	The population is comprised of individuals between ages 20 and 39.
994	The population is comprised of individuals between ages 40 and 59.
995	The population is comprised of individuals over age 60.
996	The population is comprised of individuals between ages 20 and 64.
997	The population is comprised of individuals over age 65.
998	The population is comprised of individuals over age 80.
201	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 20 to 24 age group.
251	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 25 to 29 age group.
301	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 30 to 34 age group.
351	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 35 to 39 age group.
401	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 40 to 44 age group.
451	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 45 to 49 age group.
501	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 50 to 54 age group.
551	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 55 to 59 age group.
601	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 60 to 64 age group.
651	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 65 to 69 age group.
701	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 70 to 74 age group.
751	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 75 to 79 age group.
801	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 80 to 84 age group.
851	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 85 to 89 age group.
901	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 90 to 94 age group.
951	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 95 to 99 age group.
111	The population is comprised of individuals over age 99.
001	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 0 to 4 age group.
051	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 5 to 9 age group.
101	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 10 to 14 age group.
151	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 15 to 19 age group.
202	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 20 to 29 age group.
302	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 30 to 39 age group.
402	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 40 to 49 age group.
502	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 50 to 59 age group.
602	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 60 to 69 age group.
702	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 70 to 79 age group.
802	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 80 to 89 age group.
902	The population is comprised of individuals of in the 90 to 99 age group.

2.1.5. One-letter Code for Population Unit

The last letter of the WID code determines the population unit of the variable. The most commons are “i” (for individuals), “j” (for equal-split) and “t” (for tax units, i.e. households). The full list is given below.

Differences of population units only matter for distributed series. For aggregate series (or prices, exchange rates and population series) we use the letter “i” (for individuals) by default. For distributed series, “i” means that the unit is the individual, and that income or wealth is distributed to each specific individual; “j” means that the unit is the individual, but that income or wealth is distributed equally among all household members; “t” means that the tax unit (i.e. the household) is taken directly as the statistical unit.

unit code	description
i	individuals
j	equal-split adults
m	male
f	female
t	tax unit
e	employed

2.2. Country Codes

The two-letter country codes used in WID mostly follow the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 standard. The list has however been amended to include world regions, country subregions, former countries and countries not officially included in the standard. The full list, including the composition of regions, is indicated below.

Regions within country XX are indicated as XX-YY, where YY is the region code. World regions are indicated as XX and XX-MER, the first one using purchasing power parities (the default) and the second one using market exchange rates.

For the full cross-classification of regions and country codes by year, please refer to this file.

Country Codes

WID code	country name	region (broad)	region (detailed)	region (other)
AD	Andorra	Europe	Western Europe
AE	United Arab Emirates	Asia	Western Asia
AF	Afghanistan	Asia	Southern Asia
AG	Antigua and Barbuda	Americas	Caribbean
AI	Anguilla	Americas	Caribbean
AL	Albania	Europe	Eastern Europe
AM	Armenia	Asia	Western Asia
AN	Netherlands Antilles	Americas	Caribbean
AO	Angola	Africa	Middle Africa
AR	Argentina	Americas	South America
AS	American Samoa	Oceania	Oceania (excl. Australia and New Zealand)
AT	Austria	Europe	Western Europe	European Union
AU	Australia	Oceania	Australia and New Zealand
AW	Aruba	Americas	Caribbean
AZ	Azerbaijan	Asia	Western Asia
BA	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Europe	Eastern Europe
BB	Barbados	Americas	Caribbean
BD	Bangladesh	Asia	Southern Asia
BE	Belgium	Europe	Western Europe	European Union
BF	Burkina Faso	Africa	Western Africa
BG	Bulgaria	Europe	Eastern Europe	European Union
BH	Bahrain	Asia	Western Asia
BI	Burundi	Africa	Eastern Africa
BJ	Benin	Africa	Western Africa
BM	Bermuda	Americas	Northern America
BN	Brunei Darussalam	Asia	South-Eastern Asia
BO	Bolivia	Americas	South America
BR	Brazil	Americas	South America
BS	Bahamas	Americas	Caribbean
BT	Bhutan	Asia	Southern Asia
BW	Botswana	Africa	Southern Africa
BY	Belarus	Asia	Western Asia
BZ	Belize	Americas	Central America
CA	Canada	Americas	Northern America
CD	DR Congo	Africa	Middle Africa
CF	Central African Republic	Africa	Middle Africa
CG	Congo	Africa	Middle Africa
CH	Switzerland	Europe	Western Europe
CI	Cote d’Ivoire	Africa	Western Africa
CK	Cook Islands	Oceania	Oceania (excl. Australia and New Zealand)
CL	Chile	Americas	South America
CM	Cameroon	Africa	Middle Africa
CN	China	Asia	Eastern Asia
CO	Colombia	Americas	South America
CR	Costa Rica	Americas	Central America
CS	Czechoslovakia	Europe	Eastern Europe	European Union
CU	Cuba	Americas	Caribbean
CV	Cabo Verde	Africa	Western Africa
CW	Curacao	Americas	Caribbean
CY	Cyprus	Europe	Eastern Europe	European Union
CZ	Czech Republic	Europe	Eastern Europe	European Union
DD	German Democratic Republic	Europe	Western Europe
DE	Germany	Europe	Western Europe	European Union
DJ	Djibouti	Africa	Eastern Africa
DK	Denmark	Europe	Western Europe	European Union
DM	Dominica	Americas	Caribbean
DO	Dominican Republic	Americas	Caribbean
DZ	Algeria	Africa	Northern Africa
EC	Ecuador	Americas	South America
EE	Estonia	Europe	Eastern Europe	European Union
EG	Egypt	Africa	Northern Africa
EH	Western Sahara	Africa	Northern Africa
ER	Eritrea	Africa	Eastern Africa
ES	Spain	Europe	Western Europe	European Union
ET	Ethiopia	Africa	Eastern Africa
FI	Finland	Europe	Western Europe	European Union
FJ	Fiji	Oceania	Oceania (excl. Australia and New Zealand)
FK	Falkland Islands	Americas	South America
FM	Micronesia	Oceania	Oceania (excl. Australia and New Zealand)
FO	Faroe Islands	Europe	Western Europe	European Union
FR	France	Europe	Western Europe	European Union
GA	Gabon	Africa	Middle Africa
GB	United Kingdom	Europe	Western Europe	European Union
GD	Grenada	Americas	Caribbean
GE	Georgia	Asia	Western Asia
GH	Ghana	Africa	Western Africa
GI	Gibraltar	Europe	Western Europe	European Union
GL	Greenland	Americas	Northern America
GM	Gambia	Africa	Western Africa
GN	Guinea	Africa	Western Africa
GQ	Equatorial Guinea	Africa	Middle Africa
GR	Greece	Europe	Western Europe	European Union
GT	Guatemala	Americas	Central America
GU	Guam	Oceania	Oceania (excl. Australia and New Zealand)
GW	Guinea-Bissau	Africa	Western Africa
GY	Guyana	Americas	South America
HK	Hong Kong	Asia	Eastern Asia
HN	Honduras	Americas	Central America
HR	Croatia	Europe	Eastern Europe	European Union
HT	Haiti	Americas	Caribbean
HU	Hungary	Europe	Eastern Europe	European Union
ID	Indonesia	Asia	South-Eastern Asia
IE	Ireland	Europe	Western Europe	European Union
IL	Israel	Asia	Western Asia
IM	Isle of Man	Europe	Western Europe	European Union
IN	India	Asia	Southern Asia
IQ	Iraq	Asia	Western Asia
IR	Iran	Asia	Southern Asia
IS	Iceland	Europe	Western Europe
IT	Italy	Europe	Western Europe	European Union
JM	Jamaica	Americas	Caribbean
JO	Jordan	Asia	Western Asia
JP	Japan	Asia	Eastern Asia
KE	Kenya	Africa	Eastern Africa
KG	Kyrgyzstan	Asia	Central Asia
KH	Cambodia	Asia	South-Eastern Asia
KI	Kiribati	Oceania	Oceania (excl. Australia and New Zealand)
KM	Comoros	Africa	Eastern Africa
KN	Saint Kitts and Nevis	Americas	Caribbean
KP	North Korea	Asia	Eastern Asia
KR	Korea	Asia	Eastern Asia
KV	Kosovo	Europe	Eastern Europe
KW	Kuwait	Asia	Western Asia
KY	Cayman Islands	Americas	Caribbean
KZ	Kazakhstan	Asia	Central Asia
LA	Lao PDR	Asia	South-Eastern Asia
LB	Lebanon	Asia	Western Asia
LC	Saint Lucia	Americas	Caribbean
LI	Liechtenstein	Europe	Western Europe
LK	Sri Lanka	Asia	Southern Asia
LR	Liberia	Africa	Western Africa
LS	Lesotho	Africa	Southern Africa
LT	Lithuania	Europe	Eastern Europe	European Union
LU	Luxembourg	Europe	Western Europe	European Union
LV	Latvia	Europe	Eastern Europe	European Union
LY	Libya	Africa	Northern Africa
MA	Morocco	Africa	Northern Africa
MC	Monaco	Europe	Western Europe
MD	Moldova	Europe	Eastern Europe
ME	Montenegro	Europe	Eastern Europe
MG	Madagascar	Africa	Eastern Africa
MH	Marshall Islands	Oceania	Oceania (excl. Australia and New Zealand)
MK	North Macedonia	Europe	Eastern Europe
ML	Mali	Africa	Western Africa
MM	Myanmar	Asia	South-Eastern Asia
MN	Mongolia	Asia	Eastern Asia
MO	Macao	Asia	Eastern Asia
MP	Northern Mariana Islands	Oceania	Oceania (excl. Australia and New Zealand)
MR	Mauritania	Africa	Western Africa
MS	Montserrat	Americas	Caribbean	European Union
MT	Malta	Europe	Western Europe	European Union
MU	Mauritius	Africa	Eastern Africa
MV	Maldives	Asia	Southern Asia
MW	Malawi	Africa	Eastern Africa
MX	Mexico	Americas	Central America
MY	Malaysia	Asia	South-Eastern Asia
MZ	Mozambique	Africa	Eastern Africa
NA	Namibia	Africa	Southern Africa
NC	New Caledonia	Oceania	Oceania (excl. Australia and New Zealand)
NE	Niger	Africa	Western Africa
NG	Nigeria	Africa	Western Africa
NI	Nicaragua	Americas	Central America
NL	Netherlands	Europe	Western Europe	European Union
NO	Norway	Europe	Western Europe
NP	Nepal	Asia	Southern Asia
NR	Nauru	Oceania	Oceania (excl. Australia and New Zealand)
NU	Niue	Oceania	Oceania (excl. Australia and New Zealand)
NZ	New Zealand	Oceania	Australia and New Zealand
OM	Oman	Asia	Western Asia
PA	Panama	Americas	Central America
PE	Peru	Americas	South America
PF	French Polynesia	Oceania	Oceania (excl. Australia and New Zealand)
PG	Papua New Guinea	Oceania	Oceania (excl. Australia and New Zealand)
PH	Philippines	Asia	South-Eastern Asia
PK	Pakistan	Asia	Southern Asia
PL	Poland	Europe	Eastern Europe	European Union
PM	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	Americas	Northern America
PR	Puerto Rico	Americas	Caribbean
PS	Palestine	Asia	Western Asia
PT	Portugal	Europe	Western Europe	European Union
PW	Palau	Oceania	Oceania (excl. Australia and New Zealand)
PY	Paraguay	Americas	South America
QA	Qatar	Asia	Western Asia
RO	Romania	Europe	Eastern Europe	European Union
RS	Serbia	Europe	Eastern Europe
RU	Russian Federation	Asia	Western Asia
RW	Rwanda	Africa	Eastern Africa
SA	Saudi Arabia	Asia	Western Asia
SB	Solomon Islands	Oceania	Oceania (excl. Australia and New Zealand)
SC	Seychelles	Africa	Eastern Africa
SD	Sudan	Africa	Northern Africa
SE	Sweden	Europe	Western Europe	European Union
SG	Singapore	Asia	South-Eastern Asia
SH	Saint Helena	Africa	Western Africa
SI	Slovenia	Europe	Eastern Europe	European Union
SK	Slovakia	Europe	Eastern Europe	European Union
SL	Sierra Leone	Africa	Western Africa
SM	San Marino	Europe	Western Europe
SN	Senegal	Africa	Western Africa
SO	Somalia	Africa	Eastern Africa
SR	Suriname	Americas	South America
SS	South Sudan	Africa	Northern Africa
ST	Sao Tome and Principe	Africa	Middle Africa
SU	USSR	Asia	Western Asia
SV	El Salvador	Americas	Central America
SX	Sint Maarten (Dutch part)	Americas	Caribbean
SY	Syrian Arab Republic	Asia	Western Asia
SZ	Swaziland	Africa	Southern Africa
TC	Turks and Caicos Islands	Americas	Caribbean
TD	Chad	Africa	Middle Africa
TG	Togo	Africa	Western Africa
TH	Thailand	Asia	South-Eastern Asia
TJ	Tajikistan	Asia	Central Asia
TK	Tokelau	Oceania	Oceania (excl. Australia and New Zealand)
TL	Timor-Leste	Asia	South-Eastern Asia
TM	Turkmenistan	Asia	Central Asia
TN	Tunisia	Africa	Northern Africa
TO	Tonga	Oceania	Oceania (excl. Australia and New Zealand)
TR	Turkey	Asia	Western Asia
TT	Trinidad and Tobago	Americas	Caribbean
TV	Tuvalu	Oceania	Oceania (excl. Australia and New Zealand)
TW	Taiwan	Asia	Eastern Asia
TZ	Tanzania	Africa	Eastern Africa
UA	Ukraine	Asia	Western Asia
UG	Uganda	Africa	Eastern Africa
US	USA	Americas	Northern America
UY	Uruguay	Americas	South America
UZ	Uzbekistan	Asia	Central Asia
VA	Holy See	Europe	Western Europe
VC	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Americas	Caribbean
VE	Venezuela	Americas	South America
VG	Virgin Islands, British	Americas	Caribbean
VI	Virgin Islands, US	Americas	Caribbean
VN	Viet Nam	Asia	South-Eastern Asia
VU	Vanuatu	Oceania	Oceania (excl. Australia and New Zealand)
WF	Wallis and Futuna	Oceania	Oceania (excl. Australia and New Zealand)
WS	Samoa	Oceania	Oceania (excl. Australia and New Zealand)
XI	Channel Islands	Europe	Western Europe	European Union
YE	Yemen	Asia	Western Asia
YU	Yugoslavia	Europe	Eastern Europe	European Union
ZA	South Africa	Africa	Southern Africa
ZM	Zambia	Africa	Eastern Africa
ZW	Zimbabwe	Africa	Eastern Africa
ZZ	Zanzibar	Africa	Eastern Africa

Country Subregions Codes

WID code	region name
CN-RU	Rural China
CN-UR	Urban China
DE-BD	Baden
DE-BY	Bavaria
DE-HB	Bremen
DE-HE	Hesse
DE-HH	Hamburg
DE-PR	Prussia
DE-SN	Saxony
DE-WU	Wurttemberg
US-AK	Alaska
US-AL	Alabama
US-AR	Arkansas
US-AZ	Arizona
US-CA	California
US-CO	Colorado
US-CT	Connecticut
US-DC	District of Columbia
US-DE	Delaware
US-FL	Florida
US-GA	Georgia
US-HI	Hawaii
US-IA	Iowa
US-ID	Idaho
US-IL	Illinois
US-IN	Indiana
US-KS	Kansas
US-KY	Kentucky
US-LA	Louisiana
US-MA	Massachusetts
US-MD	Maryland
US-ME	Maine
US-MI	Michigan
US-MN	Minnesota
US-MO	Missouri
US-MS	Mississippi
US-MT	Montana
US-NC	North Carolina
US-ND	North Dakota
US-NE	Nebraska
US-NH	New Hampshire
US-NJ	New Jersey
US-NM	New Mexico
US-NV	Nevada
US-NY	New York
US-OH	Ohio
US-OK	Oklahoma
US-OR	Oregon
US-PA	Pennsylvania
US-RI	Rhode Island
US-SC	South Carolina
US-SD	South Dakota
US-TN	Tennessee
US-TX	Texas
US-UT	Utah
US-VA	Virginia
US-VT	Vermont
US-WA	Washington
US-WI	Wisconsin
US-WV	West Virginia
US-WY	Wyoming

World Regions Codes (Purchasing Power Parity)

WID code	region name
QB	Africa (at purchasing power parity)
QC	Americas (at purchasing power parity)
QD	Asia (at purchasing power parity)
QE	Europe (at purchasing power parity)
QF	Oceania (at purchasing power parity)
QG	Australia and New Zealand (at purchasing power parity)
QH	Caribbean (at purchasing power parity)
QI	Central America (at purchasing power parity)
QJ	Central Asia (at purchasing power parity)
QK	Eastern Africa (at purchasing power parity)
QL	Eastern Asia (at purchasing power parity)
QM	Eastern Europe (at purchasing power parity)
QN	Middle Africa (at purchasing power parity)
QO	Northern Africa (at purchasing power parity)
QP	Northern America (at purchasing power parity)
QQ	Oceania (excl. Australia and New Zealand) (at purchasing power parity)
QR	South America (at purchasing power parity)
QS	South-Eastern Asia (at purchasing power parity)
QT	Southern Africa (at purchasing power parity)
QU	Southern Asia (at purchasing power parity)
QV	Western Africa (at purchasing power parity)
QW	Western Asia (at purchasing power parity)
QX	Western Europe (at purchasing power parity)
QY	European Union (at purchasing power parity)
WO	World (at purchasing power parity)
XA	Asia (excl. Middle East) (at purchasing power parity)
XF	Sub-Saharan Africa (at purchasing power parity)
XL	Latin America (at purchasing power parity)
XM	Middle East (at purchasing power parity)
XN	Middle East and Northern Africa (at purchasing power parity)
XR	Russia and Ukraine (at purchasing power parity)

World Regions Codes (Market Exchange Rates)

WID code	region name
QB-MER	Africa (at market exchange rate)
QC-MER	Americas (at market exchange rate)
QD-MER	Asia (at market exchange rate)
QE-MER	Europe (at market exchange rate)
QF-MER	Oceania (at market exchange rate)
QG-MER	Australia and New Zealand (at market exchange rate)
QH-MER	Caribbean (at market exchange rate)
QI-MER	Central America (at market exchange rate)
QJ-MER	Central Asia (at market exchange rate)
QK-MER	Eastern Africa (at market exchange rate)
QL-MER	Eastern Asia (at market exchange rate)
QM-MER	Eastern Europe (at market exchange rate)
QN-MER	Middle Africa (at market exchange rate)
QO-MER	Northern Africa (at market exchange rate)
QP-MER	Northern America (at market exchange rate)
QQ-MER	Oceania (excl. Australia and New Zealand) (at market exchange rate)
QR-MER	South America (at market exchange rate)
QS-MER	South-Eastern Asia (at market exchange rate)
QT-MER	Southern Africa (at market exchange rate)
QU-MER	Southern Asia (at market exchange rate)
QV-MER	Western Africa (at market exchange rate)
QW-MER	Western Asia (at market exchange rate)
QX-MER	Western Europe (at market exchange rate)
QY-MER	European Union (at market exchange rate)
WO-MER	World (at market exchange rate)
XA-MER	Asia (excl. Middle East) (at market exchange rate)
XF-MER	Sub-Saharan Africa (at market exchange rate)
XL-MER	Latin America (at market exchange rate)
XM-MER	Middle East (at market exchange rate)
XN-MER	Middle East and Northern Africa (at market exchange rate)
XR-MER	Russia and Ukraine (at market exchange rate)

2.3. Percentile Codes

Some of the data in WID.world refers to specific parts of the distribution. That is, we rank people according to their income or wealth, group them according to their rank, and report statistics on these different groups. They are coded pXpY, where X and Y are both numbers between 0 and 100. X correspond to the percentile for the lower bound of the group, and Y to the percentile for the upper bound (hence X < Y).

WID.world defines the following groups:

Key Groups

They are the most widely used. They include p0p100, p0p50, p50p90, p90p99, p99p100,99p100, p99.99p100, in addition to all deciles (p0p10, p10p20, p20p30, … , p90p100). For example, p0p50 refers to the bottom 50% of the population, and p99p100 to the top 1%.

Detailed Percentile Groups

They are narrow groups that cover the whole distribution. They include all percentiles (p0p1, p1p2, …, p98p99, p99p100), but also tenths of a percentile in the top 1% (1, p99.1p99.2, p99.2p99.3, …, p99.8p99.9, p99.9p100), hundreds of a percentile in the top 0.1% (p99.9p99.91, p99.92p99.93, …, p99.98p99.99, p99.99p100), and thousands of a percentile in the top 0.01% (p99.99p99.991, p99.992p99.993, … , p99.998p99.999, p99.999p100). For example p99.5p100 correspond to the top 0.5% of the population.

Detailed Top Groups

They also cover the whole distribution but refer to the entire population above a percentile. They take the form p0p100, p1p100, p2p100, …

Some population groups can belong to several of the above categories (for example p99p100 is in all three). When that happens, the group appears only once in the data.

The population group p0p100 refers to the entire distribution and is used for aggregate series for which there is no distribution available, and for economic series with no individual meaning such as price indices and exchange rates.

For all these population groups, we provide:

Wealth or Income Share

These correspond to the income or wealth of the group, divided by the total for the whole population. For example, the income of the group p99p100 is the top 1% income share.

Wealth or Income Averages

These correspond to the average wealth or income of the people in the group. For example, the wealth average of the group p90p99 is the average income of the top 10% excluding the top 1%.

Wealth or Income Thresholds

they correspond to the minimum level of income or wealth that gets you into a group. For example, the income threshold of the group p90p100 is the income of the poorest individuals in the top 10%. By definition, it is equal to the income threshold of the groups p90p99 or p90p91.

Inverted Pareto Coefficient

For all top groups, we also provide the inverted Pareto coefficient. It is the ratio of the group average over the group threshold. They are a measure of the fatness of the tail of the distribution of income or wealth. See Thomas Blanchet, Juliette Fournier and Thomas Piketty, “Generalized Pareto Curves: Theory and Applications” (2017) for details.

Beware that people are not always ranked with respect to the quantity that the variable measures. That is true in particular for subcomponents of income or wealth. For example, a variable for “capital income” may rank individuals according to their total income (hence p99p100 would refer to the capital income of the top 1% of both labor and capital income earners), or it may rank them according to their capital income (hence p99p100 would refer to the capital income of the top 1% of capital income earners). The description of the variable specifies which ranking is used.

3. Aggregate Income Variables

The WID contains a fairly complete decomposition of national income into various subcomponents, mostly following principles of the UN SNA. These different aggregates have their specific five-letter codes, which are described below. Their cover the sequence of accounts from primary incomes (i.e. income before direct taxes and transfers) to consumption and savings.

This section presents these five-letter codes in the different decompositions of national incomes into components and subcomponents. Whenever possible, we indicate the corresponding UN SNA codes that correspond to each concept.

3.1. Net National Income, GDP, Foreign Incomes, and Consumption of Fixed Capital

3.1.2. GDP and Net National Income

We start from the relationship between national income and GDP, presented in the table. GDP is a measure of all that is produced in a country over a given year, while national measures the income that accrues to residents. These quantities differ for two reasons. First, some of the domestic production is done by companies that are owned by foreigners, and by foreign workers. Conversely, residents can own foreign companies or work abroad. These flows are recorded under foreign incomes. Second, some of the production must be used to replace the depreciating capital stock, and therefore cannot be used to either consume or accumulate wealth, so it is not “income” in the traditional sense. This flow is recorded as the “consumption of fixed capital.”

GDP and National Income

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
nninc	(=) net national income	B5n	S1
gdpro	(+) gross domestic product	B1g	S14 + S15
confc	(-) consumption of fixed capital	P51c	S1
nnfin	(+) foreign income	(-) B5n	S2

3.1.3. Decomposition of Foreign Income

Foreign incomes can be decomposed between inflows (“received”) and outflows (“paid”), or it can be directly measured net (inflows minus outflows). Then, they can be decomposed between labor incomes (i.e. wages of employees that work in a country different from their country of residence), and capital incomes (i.e. property income generated by foreign assets). They also include a (usually small) component that correspond to taxes and subsidies on production from or to other countries.

Capital incomes may be further decomposed between foreign direct investment (i.e. ownership with direct control over the operation the company) and portfolio investment (i.e. ownership without direct control). As shown in the tables below, our recording of foreign portfolio investment differs from official statistics for two reasons. First, we estimate an amount of income that goes unrecorded in official statistics because it comes from assets hidden in offshore tax havens. Second, we estimate and include retained earnings from foreign portfolio investment in foreign income flows, which unlike retained earnings from foreign direct investment is not included in net foreign incomes in the UN SNA.

Paid/Received

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
nnfin	(=) net foreign income
finrx	(+) foreign income received from the rest of the world
flcir	(+) labor and capital income from the rest of the world	D1 + D4	S2
comrx	(+) labor income received from the rest of the world	D1	S2
pinrx	(+) capital income received from the rest of the world	D4	S2
fdirx	(+) foreign direct investment income
ptfrx	(+) portfolio and other income
ptfor	(+) officially recorded
ptfrr	(+) reinvested earnings on portfolio investment
ptfhr	(+) from tax havens
fsubx	(+) subsidies on prod. received from the rest of the world	D3	S2
fpsub	(+) subsidies on products	D31	S2
fosub	(+) other subsidies on production	D39	S2
finpx	(-) foreign income paid to the rest of the world
flcip	(+) labor and capital income paid to the rest of the world
compx	(+) labor income paid to the rest of the world	D1	S2
pinpx	(+) capital income paid to the rest of the world	D4	S2
fdipx	(+) foreign direct investment income
ptfpx	(+) portfolio and other income
ptfop	(+) officially recorded
ptfrp	(+) reinvested earnings on portfolio investment
ftaxx	(+) taxes on prod. paid to the rest of the world	D2	S2
fptax	(+) taxes on products	D21	S2
fotax	(+) other taxes on production	D29	S2

Labor/Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
nnfin	(=) net foreign income
flcin	(+) net foreign labor and capital income
pinnx	(+) net foreign capital income	D4	S2
fdinx	(+) net foreign direct investment income
ptfnx	(+) net portfolio income
ptfon	(+) officially recorded
ptfrn	(+) net reinvested earnings on portfolio investment
ptfhr	(+) received from tax havens
comnx	(+) net foreign labor income	D1	S2
taxnx	(+) subsidies less taxes on production and imports	D3 – D2	S2
prtxn	(+) subsidies less taxes on products	D31 – D21	S2
optxn	(+) other subsidies less taxes on production	D39 – D29	S2

3.1.4. Decomposition of National Income between Sectors

We decompose national income between the different institutional sectors. The three main sectors are: households (and non-profits), corporations, and the government. When possible, we also distinguish between households and non-profits, and between financial and non-financial corporations.

In following tables, we consider the decomposition of “primary income” and “secondary income.” Both of them sum up to national income, but primary income refers to the income that accrues to a given sector before the operation of direct taxes and transfers (but after taxes on production), and secondary income to the income after taxes and transfers. (Our concept of “secondary income” differs from the UN SNA concept of disposable income because we do not systematically include other current transfers (D7) in it.)

Primary Income Decomposition

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
nninc	(=) net national income	B5n	S1
prigo	(+) net primary income of the general government	B5n	S13
prihn	(+) net primary income of households and non-profits	B5n	S14 + S15
priho	(+) net primary income of households	B5n	S14
prinp	(+) net primary income of non-profits	B5n	S15
prico	(+) net primary income of corporations	B5n	S11 + S12
prinf	(+) net primary income of non-financial corporations	B5n	S11
prifc	(+) net primary income of financial corporations	B5n	S12

Secondary Income Decomposition

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
nninc	(=) net national income	B5n	S1
secgo	(+) net secondary income of the general government	B6n + D7	S13
sechn	(+) net secondary income of households and non-profits	B6n + D7	S14 + S15
secho	(+) net secondary income of households	B6n + D7	S14
secnp	(+) net secondary income of non-profits	B6n + D7	S15
secco	(+) net secondary income of corporations	B6n + D7	S11 + S12
secnf	(+) net secondary income of non-financial corporations	B6n + D7	S11
secfc	(+) net secondary income of financial corporations	B6n + D7	S12

Several components of each sector’s income must satisfy certain identities across the entire economy. They are presented in the tables below. For example, direct taxes paid by households and corporations must correspond to the total taxes collected by the government, etc.

Decomposition of Property Income between Sectors

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
pinnx	(=) net foreign property income	(-) D4	S2
prphn	(+) property income of households and NPISH	D4	S14 + S15
prpco	(+) property income of corporations	D4	S11 + S12
prpgo	(+) property income of the government	D4	S13

Decomposition of Direct Taxes on Income and Wealth between Sectors

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
taxgo	(=) direct taxes received by the government	D5	S13
tiwhn	(+) taxes on income and wealth paid by households	D5	S14 + S15
taxco	(+) corporate tax	D5	S11 + S12

Decomposition of Social Security Contributions between Sectors

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
sschn	(=) social contributions paid by households and NPISH	D61	S14 + S15
sscgo	(+) social contributions received by the government	D61	S13
sscco	(+) social contributions to private employer social insurance	D61	S11 + S12

Decomposition of Social Security Benefits between Sectors

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
ssbhn	(=) social benefits received by households and NPISH	D61	S14 + S15
ssbgo	(+) social benefits paid by the government	D61	S13
ssbco	(+) social benefits from private employer social insurance	D61	S11 + S12

We define the saving of a given sector as the difference between its secondary income and its consumption. When summing the savings of the different sectors we arrive at the savings of the total economy.

Decomposition of Net Savings Between Sectors

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
savin	(=) net savings of the total economy	B8n + D7	S1
savhn	(+) net savings of households and NPISH	B8n + D7	S14 + S15
savho	(+) net savings of households	B8n + D7	S14
savnp	(+) net savings of NPISH	B8n + D7	S15
savco	(+) net savings/secondary income of corporations	B8n + D7	S11 + S12
secnf	(+) net savings of non-financial corporations	B8n + D7	S11
secfc	(+) net savings of financial corporations	B8n + D7	S12
savgo	(+) net savings of the general government	B8n + D7	S13

Decomposition of Gross Savings Between Sectors

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
savig	(=) gross savings of the total economy	B8g + D7	S1
saghn	(+) gross savings of households and NPISH	B8g + D7	S14 + S15
sagho	(+) gross savings of households	B8g + D7	S14
sagnp	(+) gross savings of NPISH	B8g + D7	S15
sagco	(+) gross savings/secondary income of corporations	B8g + D7	S11 + S12
segnf	(+) gross savings of non-financial corporations	B8g + D7	S11
segfc	(+) gross savings of financial corporations	B8g + D7	S12
saggo	(+) gross savings of the general government	B8g + D7	S13

Primary income, secondary income and saving may be gross or net depending on whether we account for the consumption of fixed capital of each sector. If we sum the consumption of fixed capital across all sectors we arrive at the consumption of fixed capital of the entire economy.

Net and Gross Variables across Sectors

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
confc	(=) consumption of fixed capital of the total economy	P51c	S1
cfchn	(+) CFC of households and NPISH	P51c	S14 + S15
cfcho	(+) CFC of households	P51c	S14
cfcnp	(+) CFC of NPISH	P51c	S15
cfcco	(+) CFC income of corporations	P51c	S11 + S12
cfcnf	(+) CFC of non-financial corporations	P51c	S11
cfcfc	(+) CFC of financial corporations	P51c	S12
cfcgo	(+) CFC of the general government	P51c	S13
savin	(=) net savings of the total economy	B8n + D7	S1
savig	(+) gross savings of the total economy	B8g + D7	S1
confc	(-) consumption of fixed capital of the total economy	P51c	S1

3.1.5. Labor and Capital Share of National Income

We decompose net national income into four components: compensation of employees (pure labor income), pure capital income (net of depreciation), net mixed income (income of self-employed) and production taxes.

We use this decomposition to define a “labor share” and a “capital share” of income. To estimate these shares, we use factor price national income at the denominator (national income minus taxes on products and production) and we consider that mixed income is 70% labor and 30% capital. By construction, our shares of labor and capital income sums up to 100%.

Note that the 70-30 split of mixed income is provided as a convenience, but that the proper treatment of mixed income depends on the research question. Whenever possible, we provide the decomposition of national income into four components: production taxes, pure capital income, pure labor income and mixed income.

Labor of Capital Income

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
nninc	(=) net national income	B5n	S1
comhn	(+) compensation of employees	D1	S14 + S15
fkpin	(+) net capital income
prphn	(+) property income distributed to households and NPISH	D4	S14 + S15
prpgo	(+) property income distributed to the government	D4	S13
nsrhn	(+) net operating surplus of the households and NPISH	B2n	S14 + S15
prico	(+) net primary income of corporations	B5n	S11 + S12
nmxho	(+) net mixed income of households	B3n	S14
ptxgo	(+) taxes on products and production	D2 – D3	S13
wlabsh	= (compensation of employees + 70% of net mixed income) /         (net national income – taxes on products and production)
wcapsh	= (net capital income + 30% of net mixed income) /         (net national income – taxes on products and production)

3.2. Income of Households and NPISH

The UN SNA separately defines the income of households and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH), but in practice many countries only report both sectors jointly. The WID therefore defines variables that relate to both sectors separately, and to the sectors combined.

The sequence of accounts is very similar for both sectors, so we describe it for the combined sector only. The only difference is that there is not item for “mixed income” in the accounts of NPISH.

3.2.1. Income of the Sectors Combined

3.2.1.1. Primary Incomes of Households and NPISH

The primary income is the income that accrues to households and NPISH before the operation of (direct) taxes and transfers. It is made up of the compensation of employees (which includes social security contributions), the property income (received minus paid), the operating surplus (i.e. rental income, including imputed rents) and the mixed income (income of the self-employed). In many countries, these two items are only reported jointly. Operating surplus and mixed income can be gross or net depending on whether consumption of fixed capital is accounted for.

Net of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
prihn	(=) net primary income of households and NPISH	B5n	S14 + S15
comhn	(+) compensation of employees	D1	S14 + S15
prphn	(+) property income (net)	D4	S14 + S15
nsmhn	(+) net operating surplus and mixed income	B2n + B3n	S14 + S15
nsrhn	(+) net operating surplus	B2n	S14 + S15
nmxhn	(+) net mixed income	B3n	S14 + S15

Gross of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
prghn	(=) gross primary income of households and NPISH	B5n	S14 + S15
comhn	(+) compensation of employees	D1	S14 + S15
prphn	(+) property income (net)	D4	S14 + S15
gsmhn	(+) gross operating surplus and mixed income	B2g + B3g	S14 + S15
gsrhn	(+) gross operating surplus	B2g	S14 + S15
gmxhn	(+) gross mixed income	B3g	S14 + S15

3.2.1.2. Secondary Incomes of Households and NPISH

Secondary income corresponds to primary income, to which we remove direct taxes (both income or wealth taxes and social contributions) and to which we add all cash transfers.

Net of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
sechn	(=) net secondary income of households and NPISH	B6n + D7	S14 + S15
prihn	(+) net primary income of households and NPISH	D1	S14 + S15
taxhn	(-) direct taxes	D5 + D61	S14 + S15
sschn	(+) social contributions	D61	S14 + S15
tiwhn	(+) personal taxes on income and wealth	D5	S14 + S15
ssbhn	(+) social benefits other than social transfers in kind	D62	S14 + S15

Gross of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
seghn	(=) gross secondary income of households and NPISH	B6n + D7	S14 + S15
prghn	(+) gross primary income of households and NPISH	D1	S14 + S15
taxhn	(-) direct taxes	D5 + D61	S14 + S15
sschn	(+) social contributions	D61	S14 + S15
tiwhn	(+) personal taxes on income and wealth	D5	S14 + S15
ssbhn	(+) social benefits other than social transfers in kind	D62	S14 + S15

3.2.1.3. Consumption and Savings of Households and NPISH

We estimate savings by removing consumption expenditures from the secondary income.

Net of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
savhn	(=) net savings of households and NPISH	B8n + D7	S14 + S15
sechn	(+) net secondary income of households and NPISH	B6n + D7	S14 + S15
conhn	(-) private expenditures of households and NPISH	P3	S14 + S15

Gross of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
saghn	(=) gross savings of households and NPISH	B8n + D7	S14 + S15
seghn	(+) gross secondary income of households and NPISH	B6n + D7	S14 + S15
conhn	(-) private expenditures of households and NPISH	P3	S14 + S15

3.2.1.4. Relation between Net and Gross Variables

The various income/saving concepts may be considered gross or net of depreciation. Note that for the household sector, we can distinguish between the consumption of fixed capital attributable to mixed income, and the consumption of fixed capital attributable to operating surplus.

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
prghn	(=) gross primary income of households and NPISH	B5g	S14 + S15
prihn	(+) net primary income of households and NPISH	B5n	S14 + S15
cfchn	(+) consumption of fixed capital	P51c	S14 + S15
seghn	(=) gross secondary income of households and NPISH	B6g + D7	S14 + S15
sechn	(+) net secondary income of households and NPISH	B6n + D7	S14 + S15
cfchn	(+) consumption of fixed capital	P51c	S14 + S15
saghn	(=) gross savings of households and NPISH	B8g + D7	S14 + S15
savhn	(+) net savings income of households and NPISH	B8n + D7	S14 + S15
cfchn	(+) consumption of fixed capital	P51c	S14 + S15
gsmhn	(=) gross surplus and mixed income of households and NPISH	B2g + B3g	S14 + S15
nsmhn	(+) net surplus and mixed income of households and NPISH	B2n + B3n	S14 + S15
cfchn	(+) consumption of fixed capital	P51c	S14 + S15
gsrhn	(=) gross surplus of households and NPISH	B2g	S14 + S15
nsrhn	(+) net surplus of households and NPISH	B2n	S14 + S15
ccshn	(+) consumption of fixed capital attributable to operating surplus
gmxhn	(=) gross mixed income of households and NPISH	B3g	S14 + S15
nmxhn	(+) net mixed income of households and NPISH	B3n	S14 + S15
ccmhn	(+) consumption of fixed capital attributable to mixed income
cfchn	(=) consumption of fixed capital	P51c	S14 + S15
ccshn	(+) consumption of fixed capital attributable to operating surplus
ccmhn	(+) consumption of fixed capital attributable to mixed income

3.2.2. Income of Households

3.2.2.1. Primary Incomes of the Household Sector

Net of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
priho	(=) net primary income of households	B5n	S14
comho	(+) compensation of employees	D1	S14
prpho	(+) property income (net)	D4	S14
nsmho	(+) net operating surplus and mixed income	B2n + B3n	S14
nsrho	(+) net operating surplus	B2n	S14
nmxho	(+) net mixed income	B3n	S14

Gross of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
prgho	(=) gross primary income of households	B5n	S14
comho	(+) compensation of employees	D1	S14
prpho	(+) property income (net)	D4	S14
gsmho	(+) gross operating surplus and mixed income	B2g + B3g	S14
gsrho	(+) gross operating surplus	B2g	S14
gmxho	(+) gross mixed income	B3g	S14

3.2.2.2. Secondary Incomes of the Household Sector

Net of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
secho	(=) net secondary income of households	B6n + D7	S14
priho	(+) net primary income of households	D1	S14
taxho	(-) direct taxes	D5 + D61	S14
sscho	(+) social contributions	D61	S14
tiwho	(+) personal taxes on income and wealth	D5	S14
ssbho	(+) social benefits other than social transfers in kind	D62	S14

Gross of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
segho	(=) gross secondary income of households	B6n + D7	S14
prgho	(+) gross primary income of households	D1	S14
taxho	(-) direct taxes	D5 + D61	S14
sscho	(+) social contributions	D61	S14
tiwho	(+) personal taxes on income and wealth	D5	S14
ssbho	(+) social benefits other than social transfers in kind	D62	S14

3.2.2.3. Consumption and Savings of the Household Sector

Net of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
savho	(=) net savings of households	B8n + D7	S14
secho	(+) net secondary income of households	B6n + D7	S14
conho	(-) private expenditures of households	P3	S14

Gross of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
sagho	(=) gross savings of households	B8n + D7	S14
segho	(+) gross secondary income of households	B6n + D7	S14
conho	(-) private expenditures of households	P3	S14

3.2.2.4. Relation between Net and Gross Variables

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
prgho	(=) gross primary income of households	B5g	S14
priho	(+) net primary income of households	B5n	S14
cfcho	(+) consumption of fixed capital	P51c	S14
segho	(=) gross secondary income of households	B6g + D7	S14
secho	(+) net secondary income of households	B6n + D7	S14
cfcho	(+) consumption of fixed capital	P51c	S14
sagho	(=) gross savings of households	B8g + D7	S14
savho	(+) net savings income of households	B8n + D7	S14
cfcho	(+) consumption of fixed capital	P51c	S14
gsmho	(=) gross surplus and mixed income of households	B2g + B3g	S14
nsmho	(+) net surplus and mixed income of households	B2n + B3n	S14
cfcho	(+) consumption of fixed capital	P51c	S14
gsrho	(=) gross surplus of households	B2g	S14
nsrho	(+) net surplus of households	B2n	S14
ccsho	(+) consumption of fixed capital attributable to operating surplus
gmxho	(=) gross mixed income of households	B3g	S14
nmxho	(+) net mixed income of households	B3n	S14
ccmho	(+) consumption of fixed capital attributable to mixed income
cfcho	(=) consumption of fixed capital	P51c	S14
ccsho	(+) consumption of fixed capital attributable to operating surplus
ccmho	(+) consumption of fixed capital attributable to mixed income

3.2.3. Income of NPISH

3.2.3.1. Primary Incomes of NPISH

Net of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
prinp	(=) net primary income of NPISH	B5n	S15
comnp	(+) compensation of employees	D1	S15
prpnp	(+) property income (net)	D4	S15
nsrnp	(+) net operating surplus	B2n	S15

Gross of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
prgnp	(=) gross primary income of NPISH	B5n	S15
comnp	(+) compensation of employees	D1	S15
prpnp	(+) property income (net)	D4	S15
gsrnp	(+) gross operating surplus and mixed income	B2g	S15

3.2.3.2. Secondary Incomes of NPISH

Net of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
secnp	(=) net secondary income of NPISH	B6n + D7	S15
prinp	(+) net primary income of NPISH	D1	S15
taxnp	(-) direct taxes	D5 + D61	S15
sscnp	(+) social contributions	D61	S15
tiwnp	(+) personal taxes on income and wealth	D5	S15
ssbnp	(+) social benefits other than social transfers in kind	D62	S15

Gross of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
segnp	(=) gross secondary income of NPISH	B6n + D7	S15
prgnp	(+) gross primary income of NPISH	D1	S15
taxnp	(-) direct taxes	D5 + D61	S15
sscnp	(+) social contributions	D61	S15
tiwnp	(+) personal taxes on income and wealth	D5	S15
ssbnp	(+) social benefits other than social transfers in kind	D62	S15

3.2.3.3. Consumption and Savings of NPISH

Net of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
savnp	(=) net savings of NPISH	B8n + D7	S15
secnp	(+) net secondary income of NPISH	B6n + D7	S15
connp	(-) private expenditures of NPISH	P3	S15

Gross of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
sagnp	(=) gross savings of NPISH	B8n + D7	S15
segnp	(+) gross secondary income of NPISH	B6n + D7	S15
connp	(-) private expenditures of NPISH	P3	S15

3.2.3.4. Relation between Net and Gross Variables

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
prgnp	(=) gross primary income of NPISH	B5g	S15
prinp	(+) net primary income of NPISH	B5n	S15
cfcnp	(+) consumption of fixed capital	P51c	S15
segnp	(=) gross secondary income of NPISH	B6g + D7	S15
secnp	(+) net secondary income of NPISH	B6n + D7	S15
cfcnp	(+) consumption of fixed capital	P51c	S15
sagnp	(=) gross savings of NPISH	B8g + D7	S15
savnp	(+) net savings income of NPISH	B8n + D7	S15
cfcnp	(+) consumption of fixed capital	P51c	S15
gsrnp	(=) gross surplus of NPISH	B2g	S15
nsrnp	(+) net surplus of NPISH	B2n	S15
cfcnp	(+) consumption of fixed capital attributable to operating surplus

3.3. Income of the Corporate Sector

The UN SNA distinguishes financial from non-financial corporations in its guidelines. This distinction is not always needed, so we also provide data for both sectors combined. The sequence of accounts is identical for both sectors, so we only provide detailed explanation for the combined sectors.

3.3.1. Income the Sectors Combined

3.3.1.1. Primary Income of Corporations

The primary income of corporations corresponds to the income they have left from their sales after paying their intermediary consumptions, the taxes of productions, their employees, their creditors, and their shareholders. It can be decomposed into their operating surplus (the product of their sales after paying their employees, intermediary consumptions and taxes on productions) and their net property income (usually negative because corporations pay money to their shareholders in other sectors).

Net of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
prico	(=) net primary income of corporations	B5n	S11 + S12
prpco	(+) property income (net)	D4	S11 + S12
nsrco	(+) net operating surplus	B2n	S11 + S12

Gross of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
prgco	(=) gross primary income of corporations	B5g	S11 + S12
prpco	(+) property income (net)	D4	S11 + S12
gsrco	(+) gross operating surplus	B2g	S11 + S12

3.3.1.2. Secondary Income of Corporations

To move from the primary to the secondary income of corporations, we first remove the corporate tax. Then, we also add social contributions paid directly to private employer social insurance, and remove the social benefits they pay out to their employees.

Note that for corporations, their secondary income is equal to their net saving, because corporations have no consumption expenditure.

Net of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
secco	(=) net secondary income/net saving of corporations	B6n + D7	S11 + S12
prico	(+) net primary income of corporations	B5n	S11 + S12
taxco	(-) corporate tax	D5	S11 + S12
sscco	(+) social contributions to private employer social insurance	D61	S11 + S12
ssbco	(-) social benefits from private employer social insurance	D62	S11 + S12

Gross of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
segco	(=) gross secondary income/gross saving of corporations	B6g + D7	S11 + S12
prgco	(+) gross primary income of corporations	B5g	S11 + S12
taxco	(-) corporate tax	D5	S11 + S12
sscco	(+) social contributions to private employer social insurance	D61	S11 + S12
ssbco	(-) social benefits from private employer social insurance	D62	S11 + S12

3.3.1.3. Relation between Net and Gross Variables

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
prgco	(=) gross primary income of corporations	B5g	S11 + S12
prico	(+) net primary income of corporations	B5n	S11 + S12
cfcco	(+) consumption of fixed capital	P51c	S11 + S12
segco	(=) gross secondary income/gross saving of corporations	B6g + D7	S11 + S12
secco	(+) net secondary income/net saving of corporations	B6n + D7	S11 + S12
cfcco	(+) consumption of fixed capital	P51c	S11 + S12

3.3.2. Income of Non-financial Corporations

3.3.2.1. Primary Income of Non-financial Corporations

Net of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
prinf	(=) net primary income of non-financial corporations	B5n	S11
prpnf	(+) property income (net)	D4	S11
nsrnf	(+) net operating surplus	B2n	S11

Gross of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
prgnf	(=) gross primary income of non-financial corporations	B5g	S11
prpnf	(+) property income (net)	D4	S11
gsrnf	(+) gross operating surplus	B2g	S11

3.3.2.2. Secondary Income of Non-financial Corporations

Net of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
secnf	(=) net secondary income/net saving of non-financial corporations	B6n + D7	S11
prinf	(+) net primary income of non-financial corporations	B5n	S11
taxnf	(-) corporate tax	D5	S11
sscnf	(+) social contributions to private employer social insurance	D61	S11
ssbnf	(-) social benefits from private employer social insurance	D62	S11

Gross of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
segnf	(=) gross secondary income/gross saving of non-financial corporations	B6g + D7	S11
prgnf	(+) gross primary income of non-financial corporations	B5g	S11
taxnf	(-) corporate tax	D5	S11
sscnf	(+) social contributions to private employer social insurance	D61	S11
ssbnf	(-) social benefits from private employer social insurance	D62	S11

3.3.2.3. Relation between Net and Gross Variables

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
prgnf	(=) gross primary income of non-financial corporations	B5g	S11
prinf	(+) net primary income of non-financial corporations	B5n	S11
cfcnf	(+) consumption of fixed capital	P51c	S11
segnf	(=) gross secondary income/gross saving of non-financial corporations	B6g + D7	S11
secnf	(+) net secondary income/net saving of non-financial corporations	B6n + D7	S11
cfcnf	(+) consumption of fixed capital	P51c	S11

3.3.3. Income of Financial Corporations

3.3.3.1. Primary Income of Financial Corporations

Net of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
prifc	(=) net primary income of financial corporations	B5n	S12
prpfc	(+) property income (net)	D4	S12
nsrfc	(+) net operating surplus	B2n	S12

Gross of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
prgfc	(=) gross primary income of financial corporations	B5g	S12
prpfc	(+) property income (net)	D4	S12
gsrfc	(+) gross operating surplus	B2g	S12

3.3.3.2. Secondary Income of Financial Corporations

Net of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
secfc	(=) net secondary income/net saving of financial corporations	B6n + D7	S12
prifc	(+) net primary income of financial corporations	B5n	S12
taxfc	(-) corporate tax	D5	S12
sscfc	(+) social contributions to private employer social insurance	D61	S12
ssbfc	(-) social benefits from private employer social insurance	D62	S12

Gross of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
segfc	(=) gross secondary income/gross saving of financial corporations	B6g + D7	S12
prgfc	(+) gross primary income of financial corporations	B5g	S12
taxfc	(-) corporate tax	D5	S12
sscfc	(+) social contributions to private employer social insurance	D61	S12
ssbfc	(-) social benefits from private employer social insurance	D62	S12

3.3.3.3. Relation between Net and Gross Variables

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
prgfc	(=) gross primary income of financial corporations	B5g	S12
prifc	(+) net primary income of financial corporations	B5n	S12
cfcfc	(+) consumption of fixed capital	P51c	S12
segfc	(=) gross secondary income/gross saving of financial corporations	B6g + D7	S12
secfc	(+) net secondary income/net saving of financial corporations	B6n + D7	S12
cfcfc	(+) consumption of fixed capital	P51c	S12

3.4. Income of the Government Sector

3.4.1. Primary Income of the Government

The primary income of the government sector is made up of three components. The most important is taxes less subsidies on production and imports. Then we have the net property income (received minus paid) of the government, which is usually negative because it is mostly made up of interests that the government pays on its debt. The last item, “operating surplus”, is often equal to zero by convention, because the UN SNA value the production of the government at its cost, so that it has zero profit. In practice, governments have some activities that operate within market context, and this output is valued at its price like the output of other sectors, and this can lead to a small operating surplus.

Net of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
prigo	(=) net primary income of the general government	B5n	S13
ptxgo	(+) taxes on production and imports, less subsidies	D2 – D3	S13
tpigo	(+) taxes on production and imports	D2	S13
tprgo	(+) taxes on products	D21	S13
otpgp	(+) other taxes on production	D29	S13
spigo	(-) subsidies on production and imports	D3	S13
sprgo	(+) subsidies on products	D31	S13
ospgo	(+) other subsidies on production	D39	S13
prpgo	(+) property income (net)	D4	S13
nsrgo	(+) net operating surplus and miscellaneous	B2n	S13

Gross of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
prggo	(=) gross primary income of the general government	B5n	S13
ptxgo	(+) taxes on production and imports, less subsidies	D2 – D3	S13
tpigo	(+) taxes on production and imports	D2	S13
tprgo	(+) taxes on products	D21	S13
otpgp	(+) other taxes on production	D29	S13
spigo	(-) subsidies on production and imports	D3	S13
sprgo	(+) subsidies on products	D31	S13
ospgo	(+) other subsidies on production	D39	S13
prpgo	(+) property income (net)	D4	S13
gsrgo	(+) gross operating surplus and miscellaneous	B2n	S13

3.4.2. Secondary Income of the Government

The secondary income of the government all direct taxes received by the government (income and wealth taxes, social contributions, corporate tax), and removes all social benefits in cash paid to households. Transfers in nature, however, are considered consumption expenditures and only included in consumption and savings of the government.

Net of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
secgo	(=) net secondary income of the general government	B6n + D7	S13
prigo	(+) net primary income of the general government	B5n	S13
taxgo	(+) direct taxes	D5 + D61	S13
tiwgo	(+) direct taxes on income and wealth	D5	S13
sscgo	(+) social contributions	D61	S13
ssbgo	(-) social benefits other than social transfers in kind	D62	S13

Gross of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
seggo	(=) gross secondary income of the general government	B6n + D7	S13
prggo	(+) gross primary income of the general government	B5n	S13
taxgo	(+) direct taxes	D5 + D61	S13
tiwgo	(+) direct taxes on income and wealth	D5	S13
sscgo	(+) social contributions	D61	S13
ssbgo	(-) social benefits other than social transfers in kind	D62	S13

3.4.3. Consumption and Savings of the Government

The consumption expenditures of the government (i.e. transfers in nature) are first divided between individual consumption expenditures (expenditures that benefit specific individuals, mostly health and education) and collective consumption expenditures (expenditures that benefit the community as a whole).

Net of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
savgo	(=) net savings of the general government	B8n + D7	S13
secgo	(+) net secondary income of the general government	B6n + D7	S13
congo	(-) final consumption expenditures	P3	S13
indgo	(+) individual consumption expenditures	P31	S13
colgo	(+) collective consumption expenditure	P32	S13

Gross of Consumption of Fixed Capital

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
saggo	(=) gross savings of the general government	B8n + D7	S13
seggo	(+) gross secondary income of the general government	B6n + D7	S13
congo	(-) final consumption expenditures	P3	S13
indgo	(+) individual consumption expenditures	P31	S13
colgo	(+) collective consumption expenditure	P32	S13

A second, more precise decomposition of government spending separates the different functions of government expenditures.

Government Spending by Function

WID code	Description	SNA code	SNA sector
congo	(=) final consumption expenditures	P3	S13
gpsgo	(+) general public services		S13
defgo	(+) defense		S13
polgo	(+) public order and safety		S13
ecogo	(+) economic affairs		S13
envgo	(+) environment protection		S13
hougo	(+) housing and community amenities		S13
heago	(+) health		S13
recgo	(+) recreation, culture and religion		S13
edugo	(+) education		S13
sopgo	(+) social protection		S13
othgo	(+) other government spending		S13

4. Distributed Income Variables

Distributed income variables relate both to a specific income concept and to a specific part of the distribution. They can be used to retrieve the share, the average or the threshold for various percentile groups. For how to use percentile codes in the WID, please refer to the dedicated section. This section describes the five-letter codes that denote the various income concepts.

Note that every five-letter code is associated to two concepts: the income that is attributed to individuals, and the income used to rank individuals (the ranking variable). In some cases these concepts are identical, but this is not always the case. For example, we can request that individuals be ranked according to their total income (labor and capital) top define the top 1%, and then request to know the capital income of that group. This is why the tables below give both the concept and the ranking variable associated to each WID code.

4.1. “Fiscal” Income

“Fiscal” income is a legacy concept from the World Top Income Database (WTID), the precursor of the WID. While it is still included in the WID, it will be progressively superseded by DINA income concepts, which are better harmonized.

“Fiscal” income is close to the concept of taxable income, and as such its exact definition varies between countries or over time. It differs from taxable income only because of the removal of basic deductions or taxable minimums (see country-specific papers for details). Note that in most cases, fiscal income variables are only available for the top 10% of the distribution.

WID code	description	ranking variable
fiinc	(=) fiscal income	total fiscal income
filin	(+) fiscal labor income
fiwag	(+) wage and pensions
fimil	(+) labor component of mixed income
ficap	(+) fiscal capital income
firen	(+) rents
fiint	(+) interests
fidiv	(+) dividends
fikgi	(+) capital gains
fimik	(+) capital component of mixed income
fimix	(=) mixed income	total fiscal income
fimil	(+) labor component of mixed income
fimik	(+) capital component of mixed income

4.2. DINA Income

DINA income concepts are distributed income concepts that are consistent with national accounts aggregates. The precise definitions are outlined in the DINA guidelines and country-specific papers.

4.2.1. Pretax Income

Pretax income is our benchmark distributional income concept. It includes social insurance benefits (and remove corresponding contributions), but exclude other forms of redistribution (income tax, social assistance benefits, etc.)

WID code	description	ranking variable
ptinc	(=) pretax national income	pretax national income
ptlin	(+) pretax labor income
ptkin	(+) pretax capital income
ptinc	(=) pretax national income	pretax national income
pllin	(+) pretax labor income	pretax labor income
pkkin	(+) pretax capital income	pretax capital income

4.2.2. Post-tax Income

Post-tax income measures the distribution of income after redistribution. Our benchmark concept, post-tax national income, includes both in-kind and in-cash redistribution. Because the distribution of in-kind transfers requires a lot of assumptions, we also provide estimates for post-tax disposable income, which excludes in-kind transfers.

WID code	description	ranking variable
diinc	(=) post-tax national income	post-tax national income
cainc	(=) post-tax disposable income	post-tax disposable income

4.2.3. Factor Income

Factor income measures income inequality before any redistribution (be it through social insurance of social assistance). We prefer to avoid this concept for international comparisons because in general the elderly population has near-zero facto income so that factor income can be very sensitive to the age structure of the population.

WID code	description	ranking variable
fainc	(=) factor national income	factor national income
flinc	(=) labor factor income	labor factor income

5. Aggregate Wealth Variables

The WID provides complete balance sheets (financial and non-financial) for the national economy as a whole and the different sectors of the economy. A detailed description of the concepts is available in the DINA guidelines and specific papers.

5.1. National Economy

Our benchmark measures of net national wealth is market-value national wealth. That is, corporations are valued at their market values (their equity liability). An alternative definition is book-value national wealth, which values corporations like the sum of their assets (minus their non-equity liability).

WID code	description
nweal	(=) net market-value national wealth
nwnfa	(+) national non-financial assets
nwhou	(+) national housing assets
nwdwe	(+) dwellings
nwlan	(+) land underlying dwellings
nwbus	(+) national business and other non-financial assets
nwagr	(+) agricultural land
nwnat	(+) natural capital
nwodk	(+) other domestic capital
nwnxa	(+) net foreign assets
nwgxa	(+) gross foreign assets
nwgxd	(-) gross foreign liabilities
nwoff	(+) offshore assets
nwboo	(=) book-value national wealth
nweal	(+) net national wealth
cwres	(+) residual corporate wealth

5.2. Households and NPISH

The SNA distinguishes households from non-profit institutions serving households, but in some cases the two sectors are only reported jointly. The WID contains variables for each of these two sectors, separately and jointly. The general structure of the balance sheet is identical in all cases.

5.2.1. Combined Sector

WID code	description
pweal	(=) net wealth
pwnfa	(+) national non-financial assets
pwhou	(+) national housing assets
pwdwe	(+) dwellings
pwlan	(+) land underlying dwellings
pwbus	(+) national business and other non-financial assets
pwagr	(+) agricultural land
pwnat	(+) natural capital
pwodk	(+) other domestic capital
pwfin	(+) financial assets
pwfiw	(+) currency, deposits, bonds and loans
pwcud	(+) currency and deposits
pwbol	(+) bonds and loans
pwequ	(+) equities, fund shares and offshore wealth
pweqi	(+) equities
pwoff	(+) offshore wealth
pwpen	(+) pension funds and life insurance
pwdeb	(-) liabilities
pwfie	(=) financial assets except currency and deposits
pwfin	(+) financial assets
pwcud	(-) currency and deposits

5.2.1. Household Sector

WID code	description
hweal	(=) net wealth
hwnfa	(+) national non-financial assets
hwhou	(+) national housing assets
hwdwe	(+) dwellings
hwlan	(+) land underlying dwellings
hwbus	(+) national business and other non-financial assets
hwagr	(+) agricultural land
hwnat	(+) natural capital
hwodk	(+) other domestic capital
hwfin	(+) financial assets
hwfiw	(+) currency, deposits, bonds and loans
hwcud	(+) currency and deposits
hwbol	(+) bonds and loans
hwequ	(+) equities, fund shares and offshore wealth
hweqi	(+) equities
hwoff	(+) offshore wealth
hwpen	(+) pension funds and life insurance
hwdeb	(-) liabilities
hwfie	(=) financial assets except currency and deposits
hwfin	(+) financial assets
hwcud	(-) currency and deposits

5.2.2. NPISH

WID code	description
iweal	(=) net wealth
iwnfa	(+) national non-financial assets
iwhou	(+) national housing assets
iwdwe	(+) dwellings
iwlan	(+) land underlying dwellings
iwbus	(+) national business and other non-financial assets
iwagr	(+) agricultural land
iwnat	(+) natural capital
iwodk	(+) other domestic capital
iwfin	(+) financial assets
iwfiw	(+) currency, deposits, bonds and loans
iwcud	(+) currency and deposits
iwbol	(+) bonds and loans
iwequ	(+) equities, fund shares and offshore wealth
iweqi	(+) equities
iwoff	(+) offshore wealth
iwpen	(+) pension funds and life insurance
iwdeb	(-) liabilities
iwfie	(=) financial assets except currency and deposits
iwfin	(+) financial assets
iwcud	(-) currency and deposits

5.3. Corporate Sector

Corporate sector wealth (i.e. the sum of corporations’s assets, minus their debt) is what we call the book value of corporations. This value can be different from the market value of corporations (i.e. their equity liability): the ratio between these two quantities is Tobin’s Q.

WID code	description
cwboo	(=) book value of corporations
cwnfa	(+) national non-financial assets
cwhou	(+) national housing assets
cwdwe	(+) dwellings
cwlan	(+) land underlying dwellings
cwbus	(+) national business and other non-financial assets
cwagr	(+) agricultural land
cwnat	(+) natural capital
cwodk	(+) other domestic capital
cwfin	(+) financial assets
cwfiw	(+) currency, deposits, bonds and loans
cwcud	(+) currency and deposits
cwbol	(+) bonds and loans
cwequ	(+) equities, fund shares and offshore wealth
cweqi	(+) equities
cwoff	(+) offshore wealth
cwpen	(+) pension funds and life insurance
cwdeb	(-) corporate debt (non-equity liability)
cwdeq	(=) market value of corporations (equity liability)
cwboo	(+) book value of corporations
cwres	(+) residual corporate wealth
icwtoq	(*) Tobin’s Q (market value of corporations/book value of corporations)
cwfie	(=) financial assets except currency and deposits
cwfin	(+) financial assets
cwcud	(-) currency and deposits

5.4. General Government Sector

By default, the net wealth of the government sector is unconsolidated, like in other sectors. But we do provide consolidated government debt as an auxiliary variable.

WID code	description
gweal	(=) net wealth of the general government
gwnfa	(+) national non-financial assets
gwhou	(+) national housing assets
gwdwe	(+) dwellings
gwlan	(+) land underlying dwellings
gwbus	(+) national business and other non-financial assets
gwagr	(+) agricultural land
gwnat	(+) natural capital
gwodk	(+) other domestic capital
gwfin	(+) financial assets
gwfiw	(+) currency, deposits, bonds and loans
gwcud	(+) currency and deposits
gwbol	(+) bonds and loans
gwequ	(+) equities, fund shares and offshore wealth
gweqi	(+) equities
gwoff	(+) offshore wealth
gwpen	(+) pension funds and life insurance
gwdeb	(-) liabilities
gwdec	(=) consolidated government debt
gwfie	(=) financial assets except currency and deposits
gwfin	(+) financial assets
gwcud	(-) currency and deposits

6. Distributed Wealth Variables

The distributed wealth variables are identical to the aggregate wealth variables of the household sector.

WID code	description
hweal	(=) net national wealth
hwnfa	(+) national non-financial assets
hwhou	(+) national housing assets
hwdwe	(+) dwellings
hwlan	(+) land underlying dwellings
hwbus	(+) national business and other non-financial assets
hwagr	(+) agricultural land
hwnat	(+) natural capital
hwodk	(+) other domestic capital
hwfin	(+) financial assets
hwfiw	(+) currency, deposits, bonds and loans
hwcud	(+) currency and deposits
hwbol	(+) bonds and loans
hwequ	(+) equities, fund shares and offshore wealth
hweqi	(+) equities
hwoff	(+) offshore wealth
hwpen	(+) pension funds and life insurance
hwdeb	(-) liabilities
hwfie	(=) financial assets except currency and deposits
hwfin	(+) financial assets
hwcud	(-) currency and deposits

7. Price Index, Exchange Rates, Populations, etc.

7.1. Price Index

The WID uses a single price index to deflate all series: the national income deflator. It usually corresponds to the GDP deflator, although we do resort to the CPI when the deflator is not available. The price index is always anchored to the base year of the data, so that it is equal to 1 for this base year.

Full WID code	description
inyixx999i	national income price index

7.2. Exchange Rates

The WID contains two types of currency conversion factors (PPPs and market exchange rates) for three currencies (US dollars, euros and yuans). We provide long-term series for both of these indicators, but note that to convert between currencies in our benchmark approach, you only need to use the last value of each series: see Thomas Blanchet, Prices and currency conversions in WID.world, WID.world Technical Note Series n°2017/3 for details.

PPP Conversion Factors

Full WID code	description
xlcusp999i	LCU per USD
xlceup999i	LCU per EUR
xlcyup999i	LCU per CNY

Market Exchange Rates

Full WID code	description
xlcusx999i	LCU per USD
xlceux999i	LCU per EUR
xlcyux999i	LCU per CNY

7.3. Population

The WID contains several variables that relate to population sizes. They are all associated to the one-letter code “n”. Combined with the various five-letter codes for concepts, they form the six-letter codes described below. The main concept is “npopul” that refer to the total individual population within a sex and age group, but we also provide variables related to tax units or employed population in some cases where this information is useful to understand other (inequality) series.

six-letter code	description
npopul	population
npopem	employed population
ntaxto	total tax population
ntaxma	number of tax units — married couples & single adults
ntaxad	number of tax units — adults
ntaxre	number of tax returns

7.4. Wealth/Income Ratios and Labor/Capital Shares

The WID provides the following variables for wealth/income ratios and the capital share. They are provided for convenience, and are easy to recalculate based on macro variables. For the labor and the capital share, also see section 3.1.5.

full WID code	description
wlabsh999i	labor share of factor-price national income
wcapsh999i	capital share of factor-price national income
wwealn999i	net national wealth to net national income ratio
wwealp999i	net private wealth to net national income ratio
wwealh999i	net personal wealth to net national income ratio
wweali999i	net non-profit wealth to net national income ratio
wwealc999i	net corporate wealth to net national income ratio
wwealg999i	net public wealth to net national income ratio

7.5. Inequality Transparency

WID.world produces a single inequality transparency index for each country. The index ranges from 0 to 20 and seeks to place equal emphasis on wealth and income. It is constructed as follows:

• Income survey tabulations (or consumption surveys) available to researchers for at least one year over the past 10 years add 1 point.
• Income survey microdata add up to 3 points.
• Wealth survey tabulations add up to 1 point.
• Wealth survey microdata add up to 3 points.
• Income tax tabulations covering labour income add up to 1 point.
• Income tax tabulations covering capital income add up to 1 point.
• Income tax microdata covering labour income add up to 2 point.
• Income tax microdata covering capital income add up to 2 point.
• Wealth tax or estate tax tabulations add up to 2 point.
• Wealth tax or estate tax microdata add up to 4 point.

full WID code	description
iquali999i	inequality transparency index