On January 18, 2016, the international anti-poverty organization Oxfam sent shockwaves across the globe with a staggering revelation about just how concentrated the world's wealth had become. According to their findings, a mere 62 billionaires collectively possessed more wealth than the entire bottom half of the global population put together. Oxfam labeled this dramatic concentration "runaway inequality," painting a picture of an economic system that overwhelmingly benefits the wealthiest 1% at everyone else's expense. Beyond laying out the data, the report took direct aim at world leaders, charging them with paying lip service to the growing wealth gap while failing to take any meaningful, tangible steps toward closing it.
Fun Facts
- The world has 2,153 billionaires, cumulatively having more wealth than 4.6 billion people currently living worldwide.
- 4.6 billion people make up about 60% of the planet's population.
- The report detailing this shocking data was released by Oxfam ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
- This report was released to stimulate action to minimize the ever-growing gap between the rich and the poor.
- The report showed that the 1% own more assets and wealth than the 99% combined.
- Within the same report emerged facts like the wealth of the poorest 50% dropped by 41% in the last five years. This decrease is despite the growth in the global population by 400 million souls.
- In the same five-year period, the wealth of the richest 62 people in the world has increased by $5oo billion to reach a total of $1.76tn.