Photo: A child at Srimangal Railway station, Credit: Biovit/Wikimedia Commons
The number of billionaires expanded to a new record in 2017, and so did poverty and inequality, a new study shows..
The richest 1% of the global population received 82% of wealth created in 2017, while nothing went to the poorest half (3.7 billion) of humanity, the new study released by the global charity Oxfam, notes.
The report came as world economic leaders gathered in Davos, Switzerland for World Economic Forum’s starting January 23 for the annual meetings.
In the United States., the country’s three richest people have the same wealth as the poorest half of the American population.
The statistics reveal that 42 billionaires own as much of wealth as the world’s poorest half numbering a staggering 3.7 billion.
Davos, Photo Credit: Biovit /Wikimedia Commons
Last year saw the biggest increase in the number of billionaires in history, with one more billionaire every two days. According to the study, there are now 2,043 dollar billionaires in the world with nine out of 10 men.
According to Oxfam, a group of international NGOs, a jump in the wealth of billionaires last year was enough to end extreme poverty seven times over. 82% of all of the growth in global wealth in the last year went to the top 1%, whereas the bottom 50% saw no increase at all.
“It is hard to find a political or business leader these days who is not saying they are worried about inequality. Yet actions, not words, are what count, and here most of our leaders are lacking. Indeed, many are actively promoting policies that can increase inequality,” the report says
