0.001% of World's Population Controls Three Times the Wealth of Poorest Half, Reveals New Report
A recent report has revealed stark global wealth disparities, showing that just 0.001% of the world's population—fewer than 60,000 people—control three times the wealth of the poorest half of humanity. The top 10% of wealth holders own about 75% of global wealth, while the bottom half possess only around 2%. This pattern is consistent across almost every region, where the top 1% is wealthier than the bottom 90% combined.
In income distribution, the top 10% earn more than the other 90% combined, with the poorest half making less than 10% of total global earnings. The concentration of wealth within the top 0.001% has increased from 4% in 1995 to over 6% today.
Wealth inequality also heavily influences carbon emissions; the wealthiest 10% are responsible for approximately 77% of carbon emissions from private capital, whereas the poorest half contribute about 3%. To address these issues, the report suggests that a 3% global tax on fewer than 100,000 centimillionaires and billionaires could generate roughly $750 billion annually to support education in low- and middle-income countries.
Furthermore, the report highlights that about 1% of global GDP flows from poorer to richer countries each year via net income transfers on rich-country liabilities, nearly tripling the amount of global development aid. Education spending per child shows vast differences, with Europe and North America investing more than 40 times as much as Sub-Saharan Africa.
Gender inequality remains entrenched: when excluding unpaid work, women earn 61% of what men earn hourly; including unpaid labor, this figure drops to 32%.
