62 richest individuals wealthier than half of world's population

Betty

January 18, 2016 12:30 PM

The latest evidence show that today we live in a world with levels of inequality we may not have seen for over a century

Oxfam has revealed that the richest 1% have more wealth than the rest of the world combined.

Oxfam cites data from Credit Suisse to make this case adding that the gap between the rich and the poor is reaching dangerous levels.

According to Oxfam this development is happening earlier than it had predicted.

The reports says "today we live in a world with levels of inequality we may not have seen for over a century”

Oxfam also says in 2015 the 62 richest individuals in the world owned the same wealth as 3.6 billion people representing the poorest in the world. This figure has dropped significantly from the initial 388 individuals in 2010.

While the wealth of the richest people increased by 44% more than half a trillion dollars from 2010 to 2015, the bottom half fell by over a trillion dollars.

“Since the turn of the century, the poorest half of the world’s population has received just 1% of the total increase in global wealth, while half of that increase has gone to the top 1%. The average annual income of the poorest 10% of people in the world has risen by less than $3 each year in almost a quarter of a century.

“Their daily income has risen by less than a single cent every year. Growing economic inequality is bad for us all – it undermines growth and social cohesion. Yet the consequences for the world’s poorest people are particularly severe.” The report said.

Oxfam is calling on governments across the globe to take steps to reverse this trend, and close the inequality gap.

“From living wages to better regulation of the activities of the financial sector, there is plenty that policy makers can do to end the economy for the 1% and start building a human economy that benefits everyone” The report added.

Among the key steps Oxfam is recommending to reverse the trend is the end to an era of tax haven. “World leaders need to commit to a more effective approach to ending tax havens and harmful tax regimes,” The report stated.

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