Bottom 50 pc of Nagaland households receive only 18 pc of total income: Report

In rural areas, Longleng again emerged as the district with the highest income inequality at 0.456, while Zunheboto recorded the lowest rural disparity at 0.330. For urban areas too, Longleng reported the highest inequality with a Gini coefficient of 0.509, whereas Zunheboto had the lowest urban income disparity at 0.359.

The bottom 50 per cent of households in Nagaland receive only around 18 per cent of the total income, while the top 5 per cent account for nearly 21 per cent of the gross income, according to a government report. According to the 'Report on Income Disparity in Nagaland' released by Chief Secretary Sentiyanger Imchen on Thursday, the top 5 per cent households in the state have an average monthly income of Rs 71,028, whereas the bottom 50 per cent households earn an average monthly income of only Rs 1,639. The state recorded a Gini coefficient of 0.46, a measure commonly used for income inequality, where 0 represents perfect equality and 1 indicates extreme inequality. Prepared under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation's (MoSPI) Support for Statistical Strengthening Sub-scheme in collaboration with the University of Hyderabad, the report is based on a field survey conducted between October and December 2024. The survey covered 4,396 households across Nagaland, including 1,315 households from 60 urban wards and 3,080 households from 140 villages. The findings showed that the Gini coefficient for rural areas stood at 0.42, while urban areas recorded 0.44, indicating that income inequality in towns is marginally higher than in villages. Among the districts, Longleng recorded the highest income inequality with a Gini coefficient of 0.492, while Phek registered the lowest disparity at 0.366. In rural areas, Longleng again emerged as the district with the highest income inequality at 0.456, while Zunheboto recorded the lowest rural disparity at 0.330. For urban areas too, Longleng reported the highest inequality with a Gini coefficient of 0.509, whereas Zunheboto had the lowest urban income disparity at 0.359.