San Marino - Poverty and wealth

With a high measure of GDP per capita, a low inflation rate (in terms of consumer prices) of 2 percent (1997 estimate), and the benefits of the monetary and economic union with Italy, the tiny republic offers its citizens a high standard of living. No data as to San Marino's economic equality index ( Gini index ) are available, but if Italy's index is used, the degree of economic equality in the republic should be characterized as outstanding compared with that of the United States and the United Kingdom. The size of the republic and its economic activity render little space for the accumulation of large private fortunes, but extreme poverty is not an issue in the country either. This is no wonder given the influence of socialist politics in the country's history. In this and other ways, San Marino more closely resembles the above-average economic and social structures of industrialized northern Italy