**<u>Table 2.  Gini index for comparable per capita consumption indicator</u>**

|Country|**1988-**<br>**1992 **|**1993-**<br>**1995**|**1996**|**1997**|**1998**|**1999**|**2000**|**2001**|**2002**|**2003**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Albania|||_0.291_||||||**0.319**||
|Armenia|||_0.444_|||**0.321**||**0.325**|**0.310**|**0.285**|
|Bosnia||||||||**0.263**||**0.295**|
|Belarus|0.228|0.287|||**0.291**|**0.299**|**0.293**|**0.301**|**0.292**||
|Bulgaria|0.234|0.283|**0.350**|||||**0.337**||_0.277_|
|Estonia|0.230|_0.395_|||_0.376_||**0.339**|**0.332**|**0.335**|**0.330**|
|Georgia|0.28||_0.370_|**0.404**|**0.386**|**0.393**|**0.397**|**0.383**|**0.390**|**0.391**|
|Hungary|0.210|**_0.232_**|||**0.250**|**0.259**|**0.254**|**0.251**|**0.250**||
|Kazakhstan|0.257|0.327|_0.353_|||||**0.346**|**0.330**|**0.318**|
|Kyrgyz Republic|0.260|_0.537_|_0.523_|_0.405_|_0.360_|_0.346_|**0.299**|**0.290**|**0.292**|**0.276**|
|Latvia|0.225|0.310|_0.316_|_0.317_|_0.336_||||**0.340**|**0.350**|
|Lithuania|0.224|0.373|_0.323_||**0.303**|**0.304**|**0.306**|**0.305**|**0.305**|**0.325**|
|Macedonia|||_0.340_||||||**0.368**|**0.373**|
|Moldova|0.241|0.343|||**0.371**|**0.365**|**0.350**|**0.357**|**0.345**|**0.328**|
|Poland|0.235|0.264|0.268|0.277|**0.296**|**0.302**|**0.305**|**0.307**|**0.320**||
|Romania|0.255|_0.282_|||**0.274**|**0.283**|**0.282**|**0.286**|**0.294**|**0.289**|
|Russia*|0.238|0.395||**0.353**|**0.369**|**0.357**|**0.349**|**0.339**|**0.338**|_0.332_|
|Serbia|||||||||**0.292**||
|Tajikistan||||||**0.289**||||**0.327**|
|Ukraine|0.233||_0.325_|||_0.285_|_0.293_|_0.303_|**0.274**|**0.268**|
|Uzbekistan|0.250|0.333|||_0.453_|||**0.355**|**0.326**|**0.354 **|

Sources: Figures in bold are from ECAPOV II, _in italics_ – direct survey data estimates from other source (ECAPOV I and PAs), other data are from WDI and Milanovic and are based on grouped data. Data for Poland in italic are from Keane and Prasad (consumption per capita without durables) and refer to 1990 for 1989-1992, Only figures from ECAPOV 2 are consistent across time. Notes: * based on HBS, except for 2003, where NOBUS data are used.

The new data confirm the overall picture that had emerged from the data on income inequality: Specifically, Table 2 shows that (1) all the transition countries have become more unequal; (2) there were rapid increases in inequality in many CIS countries, followed by some stabilization, or even subsequent moderation; (3) there was a much more gradual increase in Central Europe, with continued change up to the most recent year for which data are available; (4) there was a wide diversity of experience, even among countries within the same subgroup of countries. For example, the Baltic states experienced inequality paths similar to that of Russia, whereas the evolution of inequality in Belarus, which retains many features of a command economy, more closely resembled that in Central Europe. That said, the magnitude of increase and ranking of each country with respect to inequality usually differs, at times dramatically, from that provided by the income-based data in Table 1. Income-based and consumption-based measures of inequality appear to be fairly consistent with each other only in some cases, typically in the EU-8 countries. This is clearly not the case in the low income CIS countries and in some middle–income CIS and South Eastern European countries. For the reasons explained above, the new consumption-based data are 10