The objective of this policy study is to present the state of the art with regard to inequalities in North Macedonia. In particular, we provide a review of existing data on the wider topic of inequalities, first by delving deeper into income inequality, and second by comparative analysis of income inequality with inequality of opportunities. Not much has been written on inequalities in North Macedonia to date, and therefore this study could be seen as a pioneering study to set the stage. On the downside, however, the study does not attempt to provide answers beyond such setting of the stage, especially not at this point when almost all of the issues to be revealed below require further examination on their own, employing rigorous econometric techniques and with more granulated (micro-)data.

The remainder of this study is organized in six sections. Section 2 presents stylized facts on what we know about income inequality. Section 3 provides a more granular approach to understanding the top 1% of earners. Section 4 presents stylized facts on inequalities of opportunities and raises the question as to whether these inequalities should be the prime concern. Section 5 provides an empirical snapshot of how income inequality is correlated with inequalities of opportunities in North Macedonia. The last section concludes and offers policy recommendations for policy action.