Darkwah, K.A.Nortey, E.N.N.Lotsi, A.2019-02-122019-02-122016-07doi: 10.1186/s40064-016-2868-zhttp://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/handle/123456789/27438The main objective of the study is to compare the Newton–Cotes methods such as the Trapezium rule, Simpson 1/3 rule and Simpson 3/8 rule to estimate the area under the Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient of income using polynomial function with degree 5. Comparing the Gini coefficients of income computed from the Polynomial function with degree 5 for the Trapezium, Simpson 1/3 and Simpson 3/8 methods using the relative errors showed that the trapezium rule, Simpson’s 1/3 rule and Simpson’s 3/8 rule show negative biases with the Simpson 1/3 rule yielding the lowest absolute relative true error of 4.230711 %. © 2016, The Author(s).enGini coefficientIncome distributionLognormal distributionLorenz curveNewton–Cotes methodsArticle