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In the above map, the orange-colored states have the highest disparity on the continent and such are Albania, Serbia, Bulgaria and Spain.
The way in which income and wealth are distributed to society determine the extent to which individuals have equal access to goods and services produced within a national economy.
An important measure of income distribution is the ratio of total income received by 20% of the population with the highest incomes than that received by the 20% of the lowest-income population, known as the Income quintile ratio. In 2017, the EU's earnings quintile ratio was 5.2.
Based on this measure, the Czech Republic and Slovenia had the lowest income disparity in 2017 (3.4). These were followed by three other member states with reports below 4.0, Finland (3.5), Slovakia (3.5) and Belgium (3.8).
In contrast, the income inequality was much higher (over 6.0) in Greece (6.1), Latvia (6.3), Romania (6.5), Spain (6.6), Lithuania (7.3), and the highest in Bulgaria (8.2).
According to internal surveys conducted by INSTAT, in 2018 the wealth, resources and economic opportunities are more concentrated in urban areas, as 30% of households in urban areas are in the highest quintile of wealth, compared to only 5% of households in rural areas.
On the other hand, only 5% of households in urban areas are in the lowest quintile compared to 42% of households in rural areas, which are in the lowest quintile of wealth.
The unequal distribution of wealth, as shown by the Gini coefficient, varies considerably in the prefectures, from 0.06 in Durres and 0.11 in Vlore to 0.19 in Elbasan and 0.26 in Debar. The INSTAT survey found that all households have televisions (98%), mobile phones (97%), refrigerators (96%), washing machines (94%). 54% of households in urban areas and 28% in rural areas have computers.
Regarding the ownership of means of transport, 37% of households have a car or truck, 26% have a bicycle, and 10% have a motorcycle or scooter.
Between 2008-'09 and 2017-'18, the percentage of households with computers grew from 30% to 54% in urban and from 5% to 28% in rural areas.