Unequal World: Richest 1 % Own Half Of Global Wealth
As world leaders gather in Davos this week for the World Economic Forum, the Oxford-based charity group Oxfam released new research on Monday that pointed to the combined wealth of the global richest 1% overtaking that of the other 99% of people in 2016.
Oxfam said the richest 1% had seen their share of global wealth increase from 44% in 2009 to 48% in 2014. At this rate, it will be more than 50% in 2016.
Two Indians figure in Oxfam’s list of billionaires in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors, who saw an increase in their wealth between March 2013 and 2014. They are Dilip Sanghavi (wealth increased by 36%) and Cyrus Poonawalla (increased by 26%)
Oxfam’s executive director Winnie Byanyima warned that the explosion in inequality was holding back the fight against global poverty at a time when 1 in 9 people do not have enough to eat and more than a billion people still live on less than $1.25-a-day.
According to Oxfam’s paper, ‘Wealth: Having it All and Wanting More’, members of the global elite had an average wealth of $2.7 million per adult in 2014. Of the remaining 52% of global wealth, almost all (46%) is owned by the rest of the richest fifth of the world's population.
The other 80% share just 5.5% and had an average wealth of $3,851 per adult - that's 1/700th of the average wealth of the 1%.
Byanyima said: "Do we really want to live in a world where the one per cent own more than the rest of us combined? The scale of global inequality is quite simply staggering and despite the issues shooting up the global agenda, the gap between the richest and the rest is widening fast”.
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