Disparity means that there is a wide variation or imbalance : for example, between the living conditions of the rich and the poor. Discrepancy means there is an inconsistency, where two facts or statements don't match up: such as when two witnesses give accounts of an event which contradict each other, or a person's tax statement has different figures from their salary cheque.

Great question! I found an answer here: https://www.dailywritingtips.com/discrepancy-vs-disparity/ "discrepancy" is from Latin "discrepare", which means two discordant sounds, or things that sound wrong together. So a discrepancy is a difference between two versions, records, opinions, or ideas about the same facts: "There were several discrepancies between the two witnesses' statements" "The results of this test showed some discrepancies with earlier results" "disparity" is the opposite of "parity", which means "equality". So a disparity is an inequality: "Wealth disparity in developed nations is increasing" "Disparity between men and women must be abolished" You can find some examples of these words in context on the Cambridge Dictionary online: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/disparity However, the two words have very similar meanings, and there are many cases in which they can be used interchangeably. For example, the Cambridge dictionary gives these examples: "Nonetheless, there was still a disparity between realistic representation and the demands of royal propaganda." (From Wikipedia) "Disparity between literal and figurative meanings in some of the lyrics discourage a precise reading of the song." (From Wikipedia) I think in these sentences either "disparity" or "discrepancy" could have been correctly used.