Brazil's Gini coefficient dropped to 0.515 last year from 0.521 in 2007, according to the 2008 national Household sample survey released by the National Geographic Statistics Office on Thursday. This is the 10th consecutive year that Brazil's Gini coefficient has declined. The survey showed that the average monthly income of the lowest-paid workers rose 4.3 percent last year compared with 2007, and their share of the national payroll rose from 1.1 percent to 1.2 percent. The average monthly income of the highest earners rose just 0.3%, and its share of total wages fell to 42.7% from 43.3%.







Still, Brazil's income distribution remains wide. According to the survey, workers earned an average of R $1,036 a month in real terms last year (about R $1.8, or $1), but the lowest paid workers earned only R $122 a month, compared with R $4,424 for those at the top.



Gini coefficient is an index proposed by Italian economist Giorgio Chini to quantify the difference in income distribution. According to relevant UN organizations, a Gini coefficient below 0.2 represents an absolute average income, 0.2-0.3 represents an average income, 0.3-0.4 represents a reasonable income, 0.4-0.5 represents a large income gap, and 0.6 or above represents a large income gap. In 1998, Brazil's Gini coefficient was 0.567.