Richest 1% will own more than other 99% by 2016 - Oxfam

The world's richest 1 per cent will own more than the other 99 per cent by next year, Oxfam reported in a study released on Monday.

The charity highlighted growing inequality ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos this week.

The research paper suggests the wealthiest 1 per cent have seen their share of global assets rise from 44 per cent in 2009 to 48 per cent last year, with an average worth of $2.7 million (€2.3 million) each. The figure is on track to exceed 50 per cent this year.

The 80 wealthiest people in the world altogether own $1.9 trillion(€1.6 trillion), the report found, nearly the same amount shared by the 3.5 billion people who occupy the bottom half of the world’s income scale.

Below the richest fifth, 80 per cent of the world’s population own just 5.5 per cent of wealth. That is an average of $3,851 dollars (€3,329) each.

‘Staggering’

Oxfam International executive director Winnie 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.

"In the past 12 months, we have seen world leaders from president Obama to Christine Lagarde talk more about tackling extreme inequality but we are still waiting for many of them to walk the walk. It is time our leaders took on the powerful vested interests that stand in the way of a fairer and more prosperous world."

Investors with interests in finance, insurance and health saw the biggest windfalls, Oxfam said.

Agencies