Growing Wealth Inequality a Major Driver of Global Collapse
[Less than] one percent of the world population owns [more than] half of global wealth, according to the latest edition of the Global Wealth Report published by Credit Suisse.
Their estimates suggest the richest 10% of adult population own 88% of all wealth, with the top 1% accounting for half of all global assets, while the lower half of the world population collectively own less than 1% of the wealth.
Household Wealth, 2015
World: 250,145 (USD bn)
North America: 92,806
Europe: 75,059
Asia-Pacific: 45,958
China: 22,817
Latin America: 7,461
India: 3,447
Africa: 2,596
Source: James Davies, Rodrigo Lluberas and Anthony Shorrocks, Credit Suisse Global Wealth Databook 2015
Regional Wealth
North America and Europe together own 67% of the total wealth, but account for only 18% of the adult population.
Special Alliance
Some 20,247 of the world’s millionaires, or more than 60 percent of the total, are from the “Five Eyes,” the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada, and Australia.
Wealth and Super Wealthy
Report estimates that worldwide there are
- 123,800 UHNW individuals (their ultra high net worth exceeds USD 50 million) including
- 44,900 each worth at least USD 100 million, and
- 4,500 with assets above USD 500 million.
- 33.6 million HNW (high net worth individuals with USD 1 mn to USD 50 m) of whom
- 29.8 million fall within the USD 1–5 million
- 2.5 million adults worth between USD 5 mn and 10 mn, and
- 1.3 million have assets in the USD 10–50 mn range
The 2015 Forbes Billionaires List
According to the Forbes Rich List 2015, there were 1,826 individuals each worth at least USD1 bn (up from 1,645 in March 2014), the highest number they’ve ever recorded, with an aggregate net worth of $7.05 trillion, up from $6.4 trillion a year ago.
80 richest people wealthier than the bottom half of world population
The 80 richest people in the world have doubled their wealth in nominal terms in the 6 year-period between 2009 and 2014, while the wealth of the bottom 50% has decreased over the same period.
These 80 individuals have more wealth (more than USD1.9 bn) than the combined wealth of the bottom 50% of the global population (more than 3.5 billion people).
Poverty
The United States has the second highest relative child poverty rates in the developed world, according to a 2013 UNICEF report.
The Greed
The greed to create more financial wealth is rapidly “asset-stripping” the planet. It’s directly proportional to the rate at which the global climate is being destabilized and the ecosystems destroyed.
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