Scaling Up the Inequality Marker: 2024 I-Marker Results and Its Application to EFSD+

Reducing inequalities is one of the key challenges of our time. The numbers speak for themselves: the top 10% of the global population earns over half of total income and holds nearly 75% of wealth, while the bottom 50% owns just 2%. Over 690 million people still live in extreme poverty. Only 10% of countries are on track to achieve SDG 10. 

Through Global Gateway and its 360°degree approach, we are committed to catalyse investments across strategic sectors—digital, energy, transport, health, and education. But we also want to make sure that these investments create meaningful and measurable benefits for people who are most at risk of being left behind.

To track this commitment and measure our progress in addressing inequalities, DG INTPA has developed the Inequality Marker – commonly referred to as the I-Marker. 

The I-Marker was launched by Commissioner Urpilainen in June 2023 and internally applied to INTPA actions (limited to grants) since end 2022. It is a strategic tool that allows us to better understand, track, and benchmark how our actions contribute to reducing inequalities across all sectors, including Global Gateway priorities. It complements the gender and disability markers and reinforces our commitment to a 360° approach to Global Gateway.

2024 I-Marker Results: A Steady Progression

On 26 May 2025, Commissioner Josef Síkela presented the 2024 I-Marker results during the launch event of the Inclusive Societies programme in Latin America and the Caribbean, demonstrating the EU’s commitment to embed the reduction of inequalities at the heart of the Global Gateway strategy.

👉 Watch the event replay

The 2024 results confirm that Global Gateway is delivering on its promise of inclusion and equity, with a growing share of actions directly contributing to reducing inequalities. In only its second year of implementation, the I-Marker shows a continued positive trajectory. Of all new DG INTPA actions assessed in 2024—outside EFSD+—, 62% were marked as targeting inequality—an increase from 59% in 2023 (either scored as I-1 or I-2). Specifically:

• 8% were scored I-2, where reducing inequality is a main objective;
• 54% were scored I-1, where inequality reduction is a significant objective;
• 38% were scored I-0, not targeting inequality.

These results also demonstrate strong progress across all regions, with improvements in Asia-Pacific (from 59% to 61%) and in multi-country and global programmes (from 19% to 49%), as well as sustained high integration in Sub-Saharan Africa (76%) and Latin America (62%).

When disaggregated by country income group, 81% of actions in Least Developed Countries were marked I-1 or I-2, compared to 74% in Lower-Middle Income Countries and 51% in Upper-Middle Income Countries. 

Complementarities with the Gender and Disability Markers

The I-Marker is designed to be used alongside the gender and disability markers, capturing complementary dimensions of inequality. While the I-Marker is grounded in a multidimensional definition of inequality—including vertical inequalities such as income, wealth, and consumption—the gender and disability markers focus on horizontal inequalities linked to gender and disability status. Using these markers in combination enables to design holistic responses, aligned with the EU’s rights-based and intersectional approach. The 2024 data confirm that these markers are complementary but not substitutable. For instance:

• Actions focused on women’s empowerment or TVET in middle-income countries may be scored G-1 but I-0, if they do not benefit the poorest groups.
• Conversely, some actions may be scored I-1 or I-2 but D-0, where they target broader vulnerable groups (e.g. women, migrants, youth) without specifically addressing the needs of persons with disabilities.

A New Chapter: Launch of the I-Marker in EFSD+ Operations

In its Conclusions of 21 November 2023 on a social, green and digital transition, the Council explicitly called for the broadest application of the Inequality Marker within Global Gateway. 

In response, the I-Marker is now applied to EFSD+ operations. Officially launched on 5th June during the EFSD+ Blending Board to DFIs and Member States, the application of the I-Marker to EFSD+ will start with blending operations and will be extended to guarantees for the next call for proposals.

Using the same methodology already applied to DG INTPA actions outside EFSD+, the proposed scoring system of the I-Marker for EFSD+ is conceived with the following three levels: 

• I-2: Awarded to investments having the general/principal objective and at least one of the specific objective(s)/outcome(s) set to reduce inequality and to have a positive impact on the bottom 40% or other socio-economically disadvantaged individuals, households or groups.
• I-1: Awarded to investments having at least one specific significant objective/outcome aimed at directly reducing inequality: i) in the country, ii) in a specific geographical area, or iii) in a specific sector.
• I-0: Applies to any other investments that do not have an objective to reduce inequalities.

The attribution of the scores is set by an assessment against the four following eligibility criteria: (i) analysis of inequality trends, drivers, and levels; (ii) objectives and activities designed to reduce inequalities; (iii) inequality-specific indicators; and (iv) evaluation mechanisms to assess impact on inequality reduction, with a strong recommendation to use the Distributional Impact Assessment methodology.

We strongly encourage you to actively promote the dissemination and uptake of the I-Marker among all partners, including Member States and DFIs. This will be essential to ensure greater coherence and alignment in our collective efforts to reduce inequalities globally.

Learn More and Get Involved

The I-Marker is more than a reporting tool—it is a gateway to better design, stronger evidence, and more inclusive impact. Whether you are developing a grant or a blending operation, a wide range of practical resources is available to support you:

INTPA Framework to addressing inequalities:

Tools and Methods Series, Reference Document N°29 : Addressing income inequalities through development cooperation (also available in FR):

• Volume 1, Concepts and definitions
• Volume 2, Policy briefs to tackle inequalities
• Volume 3, Guidelines for mainstreaming the reduction of inequality in interventions

Inequality Marker guidelines and main tools:

• I-Marker Guidelines for the application and scoring of interventions (available in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German and Portuguese) and its one pager
• I-Marker Guidelines to EFSD+ and its one pager
• I-Marker video

• E-learning  on the Inequality Marker

  All our resources are available in our public group on Capacity4Dev. To access them, you need to create an account on Capacity4Dev.