The richest 1 percent of adults in the world own 40 percent of the planet's wealth, the largest study yet of wealth distribution shows. The report also found that those in financial services and the Internet sectors predominate among the super rich.
Europe, the US and some Asia-Pacific nations account for most of the extremely wealthy. More than a third of these individuals live in the US. Japan accounts for 27 percent of the total, the UK for 6 percent and France for 5 percent.
The UK is also third on the list in terms of per capita wealth. UK residents are found to have on average US$127,000 each in assets, with Japanese and US citizens having, respectively, US$181,000 and US$144,000. All data relate to the year 2000.
The global study -- from the World Institute for Development Economics Research of the UN -- is the first to chart wealth distribution in every country as opposed to just income, for which more comprehensive data is available. It included all the most significant components of household wealth, including financial assets and debts, land, buildings and other tangible property. Together, these total US$125 trillion globally.
Anthony Shorrocks, director of the research institute at the UN University in New York, led the study. He affirmed that the existence of a nest egg provided an insurance policy that helped people cope with unforeseen events such as ill health or a lost job. Capital allowed people to drag themselves out of poverty, he added.
"In some ways, wealth is more important to people in poorer countries than in richer countries," he said.
But he added that it was more difficult in developing countries to set up a business because it was harder to borrow start-up funds.
His team used detailed data from 38 countries but had to rely on incomplete information from the rest.
The report found the richest 10 percent of adults accounted for 85 percent of the world total of global assets. Half the world's adult population, however, owned barely 1 percent of global wealth. Near the bottom of the list were India, with per capita wealth of US$1,100, and Indonesia, with assets per head of US$1,400.
Many African countries as well as North Korea and the poorer Asia Pacific states were places where the worst off lived.
"These levels of inequality are grotesque," said Duncan Green, head of research at Oxfam. "It is impossible to justify such vast wealth when 800 million people go to bed hungry every night. The good news is that redistribution would only have to be relatively small. Such are the vast assets of the rich that giving up a small part of their wealth could transform the lives of millions."
Madsen Pirie, director of the Adam Smith Institute, a free-market think tank, disagreed that distribution of global wealth was unfair.
"The implicit assumption behind this is that there is a supply of wealth in the world and some people have too much of that supply. In fact wealth is a dynamic, it is constantly created. We should not be asking who in the past has created wealth and how can we get it off them," he said.
He added that instead the question should be how more and more people could create their own wealth.
Ruth Lea, director of the UK-based Center for Policy Studies, a think thank set up by Margaret Thatcher, said that although she supported the goal of making poverty history, she did not think that increasing aid to poorer countries was the answer.
"It's no use throwing lots of aid at countries that are basically dysfunctional," she said, "The model has been tested to destruction and it doesn't work."
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source