Benefit incidence of social safety net programs to poorest quintile (% of total safety net benefits) by country
Benefit incidence of social safety net programs to poorest quintile shows the percentage of total social safety net benefits received by the poorest 20% of the population. Social safety net programs include cash transfers and last resort programs, noncontributory social pensions, other cash transfers programs...
What the numbers show
Benefit incidence of social safety net programs to poorest quintile (% of total safety net benefits) is currently reported for 35 countries. The highest value is 50.8% in Kosovo (UNSCR 1244); the lowest is 12.8% in Viet Nam.
The median across all reporting countries is 28.4%, and the mean is 28.3%.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 4.
Over the past decade 19 countries rose and 16 fell. The largest increase was in Pakistan (up 721.7%), and the largest decrease in Peru (down 55.5%).
Benefit incidence of social safety net programs to poorest quintile: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kosovo (UNSCR 1244) | 50.8% | 2017 | up 31.0% | rising |
| 1 | Kosovo | 50.8% | 2017 | up 31.0% | rising |
| 3 | Argentina | 44.0% | 2022 | up 111.4% | rising |
| 4 | Uruguay | 43.4% | 2022 | up 255.1% | rising |
| 5 | Türkiye | 38.0% | 2019 | up 9.8% | rising |
| 6 | Costa Rica | 31.8% | 2022 | up 18.0% | rising |
| 7 | Pakistan | 31.6% | 2018 | up 721.7% | volatile |
| 8 | Serbia | 31.0% | 2022 | down 12.5% | flat |
| 9 | Sri Lanka | 30.6% | 2019 | down 5.1% | flat |
| 10 | Armenia | 30.4% | 2022 | down 2.3% | flat |
| 11 | Peru | 30.3% | 2022 | down 55.5% | falling |
| 12 | Republic of Moldova | 30.2% | 2018 | up 9.4% | flat |
| 13 | Brazil | 30.2% | 2022 | up 94.0% | rising |
| 14 | Ecuador | 29.7% | 2022 | down 6.6% | falling |
| 15 | Poland | 29.3% | 2019 | down 21.4% | falling |
| 16 | Kyrgyzstan | 29.3% | 2020 | down 9.2% | falling |
| 17 | Belarus | 28.8% | 2019 | up 4.3% | falling |
| 18 | El Salvador | 28.4% | 2022 | down 20.3% | falling |
| 19 | Colombia | 28.4% | 2022 | up 33.8% | rising |
| 20 | Mongolia | 27.9% | 2020 | up 33.5% | rising |
| 21 | Romania | 26.6% | 2021 | up 8.7% | falling |
| 22 | Indonesia | 26.5% | 2022 | down 25.4% | falling |
| 23 | Paraguay | 26.4% | 2022 | down 25.5% | falling |
| 24 | Thailand | 26.1% | 2021 | up 25.8% | falling |
| 25 | Honduras | 25.6% | 2019 | up 714.5% | rising |
| 26 | Kazakhstan | 24.8% | 2021 | up 18.9% | rising |
| 27 | Panama | 24.3% | 2023 | up 7.1% | falling |
| 28 | Dominican Republic | 20.9% | 2021 | down 16.5% | falling |
| 29 | Malawi | 19.0% | 2019 | up 39.5% | falling |
| 30 | Mexico | 18.8% | 2022 | down 49.8% | falling |
| 31 | Bolivia, Plurinational State of | 18.5% | 2021 | down 29.7% | rising |
| 32 | Georgia | 18.4% | 2021 | down 9.8% | flat |
| 33 | Ukraine | 13.8% | 2020 | down 40.4% | falling |
| 34 | Chile | 13.3% | 2022 | down 43.6% | falling |
| 35 | Viet Nam | 12.8% | 2020 | up 97.1% | volatile |
About this data
Benefit incidence of social safety net programs to poorest quintile shows the percentage of total social safety net benefits received by the poorest 20% of the population. Social safety net programs include cash transfers and last resort programs, noncontributory social pensions, other cash transfers programs (child, family and orphan allowances, birth and death grants, disability benefits, and other allowances), conditional cash transfers, in-kind food transfers (food stamps and vouchers, food rations, supplementary feeding, and emergency food distribution), school feeding, other social assistance programs (housing allowances, scholarships, fee waivers, health subsidies, and other social assistance) and public works programs (cash for work and food for work). Estimates include both direct and indirect beneficiaries.