Findings included that ethnic minorities were under-represented at senior level across the public sector and their employment rates were lower than for white people.
Statistics from the audit - covering more than 130 topic areas - were collated on a website, called Ethnicity facts and figures, also launched on Tuesday.
Launching the Race Disparity Audit on Tuesday prime minister Theresa May said: “This audit means that for society as a whole – for government, for our public services – there is nowhere to hide.
“These issues are now out in the open. “And the message is very simple: if these disparities cannot be explained then they must be changed.”
She also launched a programme of work to tackle the disparities, with different departments tasked with targeting particular issues.
The Department for Work and Pension is to look at areas such as mentoring schemes to help ethnic minorities into work and the Mistry of Justice will develop performance indicators for prisons to assess the equality of outcomes for prisoners of all ethnicities.
The review follows the commitment to tackle “burning injustices” made by May when she assumed the office of prime minister in July 2016.
