World Inequality Lab

What World Inequality Lab does

The World Inequality Lab is a Paris-based non-profit research organization founded in 2016-2017 and hosted at the Paris School of Economics (48 boulevard Jourdan, 75014 Paris). Co-directed by economists Thomas Piketty (director of studies at EHESS) and Lucas Chancel (professor at Sciences Po), the lab produces and disseminates open-access evidence-based research on global economic inequality between and within countries, with the stated mission of informing public debate, empowering civil society, and strengthening democracy.

Its core technology and products center on the World Inequality Database (WID.world), the most comprehensive open-source global database on income and wealth distribution, spanning 1800 to present and built on the Distributional National Accounts (DINA) methodology that standardizes cross-country comparisons. This is supplemented by a growing portfolio of specialized databases covering historical balance of payments (WBOP, 1800-present), human capital expenditure (WHCE, 1800-present), sectoral economy-environment trajectories (WSEED, 1970-2100), political cleavages and social inequalities (WPID), gender inequality, and carbon inequality. Interactive tools include the Global Wealth Tax Simulator, South Africa Wealth Tax Simulator, Income and Wealth Comparator, RealTime Inequality dashboard, Inequality Transparency Index, Missing Profits database, Tax Justice Now, Spain Wealth Atlas, Latin America Distribuciones, and the Global Justice Platform scenario explorer. All products are provided free of charge as a public good.

The business model is non-commercial. The organization employs 38 people and is funded through research grants, institutional partnerships (Paris School of Economics, Sciences Po Paris), and public donations. It does not have paying customers in the traditional sense. Distribution is purely digital and free, supported by content marketing via WID.world and inequalitylab.world, academic publications, the quadrennial World Inequality Conference (held in 2017, 2021, and June 2026), the regular Equality Debates (Débats de l'Egalité) book discussion series, email newsletters, Bluesky social media, and extensive earned media coverage in outlets including the New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, and The Times of India. Strategic positioning centers on the lab's authoritative data advantage, the academic standing of its leadership, and the recurring quadrennial flagship reports (WIR 2018, 2022, 2026; Climate Inequality 2023, 2025; Global Justice Report 2026) rather than commercial revenue capture.

Name

World Inequality Lab

Legal name

World Inequality Lab

Website

https://inequalitylab.world

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The World Inequality Lab is a Paris-based non-profit research organization co-directed by Thomas Piketty and Lucas Chancel that produces open-access databases, reports, and interactive tools on global economic inequality. It serves academic researchers, policymakers, media, civil society, and the general public worldwide, distributing all outputs free of charge.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Economic Inequality Research and Open Data

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

EdTech & Digital Learning Policy Research (EDADADAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Education Access & EdTech for Equity (Low-cost Learning, Skills Platforms) (BPAGALAH)

Keywords

• Global inequality research
• Open-source economic data
• Distributional national accounts
• Wealth concentration analysis
• Academic research lab

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Research Grants and Funding: The organization operates as a research lab at Paris School of Economics, funded through grants and partnerships. The website accepts donations for independent research.
2. Donations: Public donations accepted to support independent research and open data on global inequality.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The World Inequality Lab produces and disseminates open-access research on global economic inequality. Its core offering is the World Inequality Database (WID.world) — the most comprehensive open-source platform for historical and current income and wealth distribution data worldwide — accompanied by periodic inequality reports, specialized thematic databases, interactive simulators (wealth tax, income/wealth comparator), and a quadrennial World Inequality Conference, all provided free of charge to researchers, policymakers, journalists, and the public.

Product overview

The World Inequality Lab is a research collective that produces and disseminates evidence-based research on global inequality. Its product portfolio centers on the World Inequality Database (WID), the most comprehensive open-source database for global inequality data. The organization offers multiple specialized databases including the World Sectoral Economy-Environment Database (WSEED), World Historical Balance of Payments Database (WBOP), World Human Capital Expenditure Database (WHCE), Political Cleavages and Social Inequalities Database (WPID), and Gender Inequality Database. Interactive tools include the Global Wealth Tax Simulator, South Africa Wealth Tax Simulator, Income and Wealth Comparator, RealTime Inequality, and the Inequality Transparency Index. The Global Justice Platform provides an interactive scenario explorer for distributional pathways and climate scenarios. The organization publishes periodic World Inequality Reports (2018, 2022, 2026), Climate Inequality Reports (2023, 2025), and the Global Justice Report. Research outputs include working papers, technical notes, and methodological documentation (DINA). Major events include the World Inequality Conference (quadrennial) and Equality Debates (regular book discussion series).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• World Inequality Database (WID): Comprehensive open-source database for global inequality data
• Global Justice Project
• World Inequality Report
• Climate Inequality Report
• World Historical Balance of Payments Database
• World Human Capital Expenditure Database
• World Sectoral Economy-Environment Database (WSEED)
• World Political Cleavages and Social Inequalities (WPID)
• Global Wealth Tax Simulator
• Income and Wealth Comparator
• Inequality Transparency Index
• Missing Profits Project

Products and services

• World Inequality Database (WID) The most comprehensive open-source database for global income and wealth distribution data, providing historical and current series across countries from 1800 to present using the Distributional National Accounts methodology, available free to researchers, policymakers, journalists, and the public.
• World Inequality Report 2026 The latest edition of the lab's flagship report presenting the most recent data and analysis on global income and wealth inequalities across and within countries.
• World Inequality Report 2022 Second edition of the World Inequality Report providing updated data and analysis on global inequalities worldwide.
• World Inequality Report 2018 First edition of the World Inequality Report establishing the baseline for global inequality analysis using the DINA methodology.
• Climate Inequality Report 2025 Report analyzing the reciprocal relationship between wealth inequality and the climate crisis, presenting data on carbon inequalities and wealth exposure to climate risk.
• Climate Inequality Report 2023 First edition of the Climate Inequality Report presenting data on climate inequalities worldwide.
• Global Justice Report 2026 Report exploring just distribution of socioeconomic and environmental resources from 2026 to 2100 compatible with planetary boundaries, with an accompanying interactive scenario explorer.
• Global Justice Project (Interactive Platform) Interactive platform exploring distributional pathways and climate scenarios for global socioeconomic and environmental justice from 2026 to 2100, including a simulation of the Global Justice Fund.
• World Sectoral Economy-Environment Database (WSEED) Specialized database exploring past and future trajectories of energy transition, sectoral change, sobriety, and degrowth from 1970 to 2100.
• World Historical Balance of Payments Database (WBOP) Database exploring international transactions — trade, capital flows, and foreign wealth accumulation — and unequal development from 1800 to present.
• World Human Capital Expenditure Database (WHCE) Database exploring the evolution of public and private investment in human capital from 1800 to present.
• Political Cleavages and Social Inequalities Database (WPID) Interactive database analyzing socioeconomic indicators of support for political parties, examining who votes for whom across countries.
• Global Wealth Tax Simulator Interactive simulator enabling users to design their own wealth tax schedule and estimate the revenue that can be generated.
• Income and Wealth Comparator Interactive tool enabling users to compare their income and wealth position against the global distribution.
• Inequality Transparency Index

Quantifiable outcome

• Global Justice Report proposes €5,000/month average incomes for all countries within +1.8°C of warming
• +2 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• ATTACminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 January 2026ATTAC co-organized the event 'A l'heure des prédateurs: Comment reprendre le contrôle sur l'énergie?' with the World Inequality Lab.
• Sud-EnergieminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 January 2026Sud-Energie union co-organized the energy policy debate event with the World Inequality Lab.
• Paris School of EconomicscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe World Inequality Lab is based at the Paris School of Economics (PSE) and organizes its major conferences and events at PSE facilities. PSE provides institutional hosting and academic credibility to the organization.
• DigitalOceanminorOthersDigitalOcean provides web hosting services for the World Inequality Lab website, with servers located in Frankfurt, Germany.
• Sciences Po Paris (Centre for Research on Social Inequalities)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLucas Chancel, co-director of World Inequality Lab, is a professor at Sciences Po Paris within the Centre for Research on Social Inequalities, providing academic integration.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• UNDP (United Nations Development Programme): UNDP produces the Human Development Report and multidimensional inequality indices, sharing a similar audience of policymakers and civil society. It is a comparable global institution operating in development and inequality research, though broader in scope.
• CEPR (Centre for Economic Policy Research): CEPR is a broad European-based research network producing working papers, policy research, and conferences on economics. It is comparable as an academic convening body and policy research hub with similar audiences, though broader in topical coverage.
• Eurostat: Eurostat publishes official European inequality and income distribution statistics (EU-SILC) using a similar descriptive, comparative approach. It is a broad incumbent providing the official European data layer that the Lab's WID methodology complements.
• World Bank: World Bank produces global poverty and inequality datasets (PovcalNet, PIP) and policy research widely cited alongside WID.world. Comparable as a major multilateral data provider, though the Lab's distributional focus and Piketty-led methodology target a different audience.
• OECD: OECD publishes comparable cross-country economic and inequality statistics (e.g., Income Distribution Database). It is a broad incumbent producing official statistics that overlap with WID.world, though the World Inequality Lab's standardized DINA methodology and historical depth differentiate it.
• Brookings Institution: Brookings produces influential economic and social policy research, including inequality and tax policy work, with similar academic-cum-policymaker audiences. It is a broad-incumbent think tank operating at greater scale across more policy areas.

Direct peers

• Our World in Data: Our World in Data provides free, interactive, open-access visualizations of global economic and social indicators, mirroring the Lab's open-data philosophy and researcher/policymaker audience. It is a direct peer in the open data-for-public-debate space.
• Tax Justice Network: Tax Justice Network directly addresses global tax avoidance, wealth concentration, and inequality, including the Missing Profits-style research the Lab has adopted. Both produce open data and advocacy tools for civil society and policymakers on related subjects.
• Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS): IFS produces authoritative, non-partisan research on taxation, inequality, and wealth distribution, with strong government and media influence. It is a direct peer in producing inequality and tax data that informs UK and European policy debates.

Emerging players

• Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE): SITE conducts academic research on economic transition, inequality, and development with policy relevance. It is an emerging player in the same academic-policy research ecosystem, though more focused on transition economies and Eastern Europe.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xbsky.app/profile/wid.world
• YouTubeyoutube.com/playlist?list=PLsVwavkUhaqrQjk4kACcUPIkOdxJVRtnr
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/world-inequality-lab

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about World Inequality Lab