The report by the World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University proclaims that the richest 2% of adults in the world own more than half of global household wealth. This excludes business, organisational and government wealth.
Further statistics demonstrate how the richest 1% of adults accounted for 40% of household assets in the year 2000, and that the richest 10% of adults accounted for 85% of the world total. In contrast, the bottom half of the world adult population owned a mere 1% share.
Whichever way you say it, there is no doubt that we have a massive skew in the distribution of assets and personal wealth across the globe. I'm going to keep the argument of lifestyle, quality of life, health and happiness out of this for moment, and make the assumption that each of these has a significant correlation to the relative income and assets of an individual. Money won't make you happy, but it certainly can take a few worries away from a starving family living in the dirt in a developing nation!
The report also found that just $2,200 of assets per adult placed a household in the top half of the world wealth distribution. To be among the richest 10% of adults in the world required just $61,000 in assets, and $500,000 qualified you for entry to the richest 1% along with 37 million others worldwide.
It was also noted that
many people in high-income countries have negative net worth and—somewhat paradoxically—are among the poorest people in the world in terms of household wealth
Facsinating reading - it really does put your own life into perspective!
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