Harmonized disposable income dataset for Europe at subnational level

Abstract

In recent decades, detailed country-level estimates of income and wealth have become widely available and inform us about the evolution of inequality between and within countries. But a substantial portion of these available datasets lack sub-national geographical information, precluding the exploration of the spatial distribution and evolution of inequalities within countries. We present here a new dataset of disposable income for Europe at the subnational level. It has been compiled from existing income data (gross income, gross earnings, equivalised income, etc.) published by national statistical institutes at different geographical levels. We used linear regressions and numerical operations to estimate disposable income from other available socio-economic statistics (e.g. household size, tax rates). We developed a harmonization and adjustment procedures to ensure of the consistency of statistical units, income indicators, costs of living and inflation. The dataset covers 42 European countries distributed over more than 120,000 geographical entities on the 1995 to 2021 period (most of the data being available for the 2010–2020 decade). This new dataset opens avenues for investigating the links between income inequality and other socio-economic or ecological processes.