Top 17 Most Economically Equal Countries

Most of the low inequality countries are the ones with the highest equality, democratic participation, HDI, quality of life, and surveyed happiness levels. Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark-- all the Nordic countries are topping the list.

Let's start with Iceland, since it completes the list of Nordic countries, and is the most capitalistic of countries using the Nordic model:

17. Iceland 28.0 2006
16. Belgium 33.0 2000 28.0 2005
15. Ukraine 26.4 2009 27.5 2008
14. Belarus 27.2 2008
13. Germany 28.3 2000 27.0 2006
12. Croatia 33.7 2008 27.0 2009
11. Finland 26.9 2000 26.8 2008
10. Kazakhstan 26.7 2009
9. Malta 26.0 2007
8. Slovakia 26.0 2009 26.0 2005
7. Austria 26.0 2007
6. Luxembourg 30.8 2000 26.0 2005
5. Norway 25.8 2000 6.0 2000 25.0 2008
4. Denmark 24.0 2005 24.8 2011
3. Hungary 31.2 2007 24.7 2009
2. Montenegro 30.0 2008 24.3 2010
1. Sweden 25.0 2000 23.0 2005

I'm seeing a trend here. It's not like greater economic equality leads to a better country (North Korea is a notable exception, which doesn't make the list, but runs fairly close behind at 31%), but it definitely is an important factor!