Available data show that the distribution of private household expenditures has become more unequal in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, though absolute poverty incidence has halved.
Over the last 2 decades the Gini coefficient for expenditure in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic has risen from 0.311 to 0.364, even though absolute poverty incidence has halved. When the data is decomposed into rural and urban areas, or by the ethnicity of the household head, the increase in inequality within groups dominates any changes between groups; indeed, inequality has increased throughout the country. In contrast, access to publicly provided services has become more equal.