Although some countries have resisted the trend, inequality has been increasing over the last 30-40 years in the world as a whole. Inequality within countries has increased, and inequality between countries increased sharply after 1980, before leveling off in the late 1990’s and finally falling back after 2000, as catch-up growth in developing countries accelerated.
尽管一些国家阻止了不平等性增加的趋势，但从过去三四十年来的世界总体情况看，不平等性一直在增加。各国国内的不平等性在增加，国与国之间的不平等性则在1980年之后显著增加，但在20世纪90年代末开始趋缓，并最终在2000之后开始下降，原因在于发展中国家的赶超增长开始发力。