13 countries with active universal basic income and guaranteed basic income programs

In Macau, the government runs a universal basic income program for residents called the Wealth Partaking Scheme.

Since 2008, the government of Macau has provided unconditional basic income to its permanent and non-permanent residents. Individuals must have a Macau identity card to receive the payments.

Residents receive the lump sum payment by check, whereas specific residents, such as retired civil servants, can receive bank transfers.

The annual payment is not fixed and is subject to changing regulations each year. Each year, the Macau government announces its stipulations for payments. In 2024, permanent residents received $1,250, while non-permanent residents received $750.

In Tamil Nadu, a state in Southeast India, the government is piloting a guaranteed basic income program for women called the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai, which roughly translates to “women’s rights grant.”

The program provides basic income for women in the region who are responsible for supporting themselves or their families.

Eligibility requirements target women with limited access to land and electricity. Participants must be women aged 21 or older with an annual family income of roughly $3,000 or less.

Participants receive about $12 monthly. The income transfers began in September 2023 and are expected to run for a year.

The Irish Government is running a Basic Income for the Arts pilot program.

Any artist in Ireland could apply for the program, and 2,000 eligible people were randomly selected in 2022.

The program provides a stipend of $350 a week, which is paid monthly, until 2025.

The pilot is designed to gauge the effects of basic income on providing financial stability for those working in the arts and creative fields.

In 2022, GiveDirectly launched a universal basic income pilot in Liberia, in the country’s southeastearn Maryland County.

The program has reached 13,795 recipients, according to GiveDirectly.

Villages in Liberia are randomly targeted, and all individuals receive monthly payments for 36 months totaling $1,224.

The program is scheduled to run for three years.

In Togo, the government runs a basic income program called Novissi. Novissi means solidarity in the Éwé language, spoken in Togo.

Novissi was launched in 2020 and originally focused on workers in urban areas impacted by COVID-19.

Since then, it’s expanded to rural areas and targets low-income workers. Men and women receive $19.41 and $64.70 bi-monthly, respectively, according to Stanford Basic Income Lab.

The program has over 800,000 recipients, according to Stanford Basic Income Lab.

The funding is a mix of public and private. Institutions affiliated with the program include GiveDirectly, UC Berkeley’s Center for Effective Global Action, Innovations for Poverty Action, and more.

The United States has the most active basic income programs in the world, according to Stanford Basic Income Lab.

In fact, 16 states and Washington, DC are running active basic income pilots.

There are also other money transfer programs that aren’t necessarily basic income. For example, the Alaska Permanent Fund is a state program that pays residents annual dividends based on the state’s oil revenues. While it’s not a basic income program, economists told Business Insider that it provides many of the same benefits.

While 13 countries have active basic income programs, others around the globe have implemented programs in the past.

Finland, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mongolia, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Spain, and Uganda have all piloted programs, according to the Stanford Basic Income Lab.