Inequality: 62 Wealthiest People Own As Much As Half The World

A report published by a United Kingdom-based charity Oxfam has confirmed that the world’s wealthiest people own as much wealth as half of the world’s population.

As at 2010, about 388 wealthy individuals owned as much wealth as 50 percent of the world’s population, signalling an increase in the rich-poor divide and proving that wealth is increasingly being concentrated in the hands of fewer people.

The Oxfam report stated that the number of super-rich individuals increased by 44 percent between 2010 and 2015.

This is believed to have taken their cumulative wealth to $1.76 trillion, the equivalent of what 3.5 billion world’s poorest people own. The world’s population is currently pegged at around 7 billion.

According to Oxfam, $190 billion of this figure (of $1.76 trillion) should go to the government as tax.

However, the report said, many of these wealthy individuals were using tax havens to circumvent the system.

The charity on Monday also said a total of $7.6 trillion was stashed away in tax havens, and called on global business and political leaders to cooperate with the aim of reforming existing tax regimes to get rid of the tax havens.