Measuring top income shares in the UK

Abstract Information about the share of total income held by richest 1%, or other top groups, is increasingly used to discuss inequality levels and trends within between nations. A ratio group divided personal (the ‘income control total’). We compare two approaches estimating totals: ‘external’ approach World Inequality Database, an augmented ‘internal’ approach. argue in favour latter, with reference five desirable properties that a series would ideally possess. The choice matters: our yields estimates UK 1% are around 2% points higher than