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United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Sustainable Development
Goals
10

Reduce inequality within and among countries

Africa

Related Goals
10

Targets and Indicators

Target

10.1

By 2030, progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population at a rate higher than the national average

10.1.1

Growth rates of household expenditure or income per capita among the bottom 40 per cent of the population and the total population

Target

10.2

By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status

10.2.1

Proportion of people living below 50 per cent of median income, by sex, age and persons with disabilities

Target

10.3

Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices and promoting appropriate legislation, policies and action in this regard

10.3.1

Proportion of population reporting having personally felt discriminated against or harassed within the previous 12 months on the basis of a ground of discrimination prohibited under international human rights law

Target

10.4

Adopt policies, especially fiscal, wage and social protection policies, and progressively achieve greater equality

10.4.1

Labour share of GDP

10.4.2

Redistributive impact of fiscal policy

Target

10.5

Improve the regulation and monitoring of global financial markets and institutions and strengthen the implementation of such regulations

10.5.1

Financial Soundness Indicators

Target

10.6

Ensure enhanced representation and voice for developing countries in decision-making in global international economic and financial institutions in order to deliver more effective, credible, accountable and legitimate institutions

10.6.1

Proportion of members and voting rights of developing countries in international organizations

Target

10.7

Facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies

10.7.1

Recruitment cost borne by employee as a proportion of montlhy income earned in country of destination

10.7.2

Number of countries with migration policies that facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people

10.7.3

Number of people who died or disappeared in the process of migration towards an international destination

10.7.4

Proportion of the population who are refugees, by country of origin

Target

10.a

Implement the principle of special and differential treatment for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, in accordance with World Trade Organization agreements

10.a.1

Proportion of tariff lines applied to imports from least developed countries and developing countries with zero-tariff

Target

10.b

Encourage official development assistance and financial flows, including foreign direct investment, to States where the need is greatest, in particular least developed countries, African countries, small island developing States and landlocked developing countries, in accordance with their national plans and programmes

10.b.1

Total resource flows for development, by recipient and donor countries and type of flow (e.g. official development assistance, foreign direct investment and other flows)

Target

10.c

By 2030, reduce to less than 3 per cent the transaction costs of migrant remittances and eliminate remittance corridors with costs higher than 5 per cent

10.c.1

Remittance costs as a proportion of the amount remitted

Progress and Info

Before the pandemic, the incomes of the bottom 40% of the population grew faster than the national average in a majority of countries. The impacts of the pandemic and uneven recoveries in different regions of the world threaten to reverse that trend and further worsen global inequality. Record numbers are being forced to flee conflicts and economic hardship. By mid-2022, one in 251 people worldwide was a refugee, the highest proportion ever documented. Achieving SDG 10 requires concerted efforts to address the root causes of wage disparities and access to resources both within- and between-country inequality. 

Target 10.1: Across 119 countries with data available prior to the pandemic, more than half of them have achieved income growth of the bottom 40% of the population at a rate higher than the national average. Sparse data from the pandemic suggest that two-thirds of 50 countries have experienced shared prosperity post-2019, driven by Northern America and Europe where in many countries, transfers mitigated the economic impacts of the pandemic on the bottom of distributions.

Target 10.2: For the 53 countries with information in 2015 and 2020, on average, the share of people living below half the median has declined by 1 percentage point, from 13.4% to 12.5%. This trend continued during COVID-19, in large part because of generous social assistance programs implemented in several countries. Yet the share living below half the median remains worryingly high in many countries: In 17 countries, more than 20% of the population lives below half the national median.

Target 10.4: The share of economic output earned by workers has experienced a sizeable decline in the last 15 years, from 54.1% in 2004 to 52.6% in 2019. This decline represents $590 (PPP) per worker on average. As earnings from work are particularly important for the less well-off and vulnerable, and as lower-income workers have been disproportionately impacted by the crisis, the observed decline is disconcerting.

Target 10.7: IOM’s Missing Migrants Project has recorded 54,127 deaths on migratory routes worldwide since 2015, of which 6,878 were recorded in 2022. However, the real number of lives lost is certainly higher.

  • The number of people displaced from their countries due to war, conflict, persecution, human rights violations, and public disorder has increased annually for over a decade. By   mid-2022 there were 32.5 million refugees worldwide, among 103 million forcibly displaced persons. By the same time, the ratio of refugees to every 100,000 people has risen to 398, an 87% increase from 2015, as forced displacement continues to rise. 
  • Globally, in 2021, 63% of 138 countries with data reported having a wide range of policies to facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, defined as having policy measures for 80% or more of the 30 sub-categories under the six domains of the indicator. 

Target 10.c: The global average cost of sending $200 in remittances decreased from 9.3% in 2011, to 7.42% in 2016 and 6.3% in 2021, which remains more than twice the SDG 10.c target of 3%.