The Gini coefficient for a particular population is generally expressed as a fraction. Perfect equality would be represented by a value of zero, while maximum inequality would be represented by a value of one. In the real world, the Gini coefficient for any given country or region is expressed by a fraction somewhere in between those two extremes. The Gini coefficient for an advanced European country like Germany has hovered around .3 for decades, while the figure for the United States has risen for years, now matching that of China and Mexico at over .4.
