Different economic studies published every year, such as the Hurun Global Rich List or the Global Wealth Report prepared by UBS, keep the pulse of the state of assets. richest people on the planetIt shows which countries or cities have the most prosperous neighbors.

However, these studies do not show differences between the 1% of the population that constitutes the ultra-rich and the 50% of the poorest population. Prepared by the international organization World Inequality Database, the World Inequality Report 2022 focuses on how different countries around the world manage the distribution of this wealth.

Before we continue with disaggregated data on what inequality represents, I believe an overall picture of wealth inequality in the world is worth a thousand words. On the side, the chart shows how 1 percent of the world’s population controls 38 percent of global wealthThe poorest 50 percent of the population owns only 2 percent of the total. The distance between this 1% and the rest speaks for itself.

Inequality is not about being a poor country and there are different ways to measure it

There are different ways to define individuals’ income and therefore more than one way to measure inequality. The same goes for wealth. When making international comparisons of income levels or wealth inequality, it is important to measure the same concepts in all countries to avoid misleading results.

The data obtained from this study and the results of poverty reference indices such as the Gini coefficient give different results because they measure different parameters (wage gap, wealth gap, etc.). Although they differ in terms of the factors taken into account, they show inequality in the distribution of wealth and income. They are not mutually exclusive.. These are different sides of the same coin.

Neither the Gini coefficient data nor the data in the World Inequality Report indicate a country’s global wealth or poverty. The difference between the richest 1 percent of the population and the poorest 50 percent.

Latin America leads in inequality with the richest 1 percent

After relevant explanations are made, the study data reveal the huge gap in wealth distribution in some countries in Central and Latin America. The Sol Foundation has published this representative map that visually shows data from the World Inequality Report on Latin America.

The example of Chile stands out, where wealth is concentrated in 1% of the ultra-rich population, who control 49.8% of the total, while the poorest 50% have a budget deficit of -0.6%, indicating extreme poverty. If we expand the wealth gap to include the richest 10 percent of the population, wealth accumulation goes up to 80.4 percent of the total. According to these data, the most preferred country in the world will be Chile. greatest wealth inequality Between the highest and lowest segments of the population.

Brazil follows closely behind with 48.7% held by 1% of the ultra-rich population, while the poorest 50% control 10% of total wealth. Unlike Chile, if we expand the framework to include the richest 10% of the population, they control 59% of the total; This shows that the majority of this wealth is concentrated in the ultra-rich population, and there is even a gap between millionaires and millionaires. ultra rich.

Without leaving the Americas, Mexico presents one of the highest rates of inequality in the world; Mexico has 46.9% of the country’s wealth held by 1% of the population, while the poorest 50% have debt of -0.2%. If we open the frame to the richest 10 percent, as in the case of Chile, wealth accumulation increases to 78.7 percent, indicating a gap between the poorest half and the richest, but not so much at different levels of wealth.

Peru is also notable for extreme inequality between different population segments. Its richest population holds 45% of the country’s total wealth. In the remaining countries of the continent, this rate is between 25% and 35%, and these rates are considered average values ​​worldwide. For example, the United States records that 34.9% of the wealth is held by the richest 1%, while the poorest 50% holds 1.5% of the total wealth. In Canada, 25 percent of its wealth is held by the richest people and 5.8 percent by its poorest people.

Inequality does not understand continents

The unjust distribution of wealth is not unique to the Americas. South Africa and Russia are champions (worse) on this side of the pond in terms of inequality in wealth distribution.

The situation is particularly worrying in South Africa, where 55 percent of the wealth is in the hands of 1 percent of the population, while the poorest half has a deficit of -2.4 percent.

While 47.7 percent of the wealth in Russia is in the hands of oligarchs who earn their wealth on the backs of state institutions, the poorest 50 percent are content with 3.1 percent of the country’s total wealth.

The distribution of wealth in China is even more surprising. The rate in the hands of the richest is 30.5 percent, in the hands of the richest 10 percent is 67.8 percent, and in the hands of the middle segment, which represents 40 percent of the population, is 25.8 percent. The poorest 50 percent control 6.4 percent of the wealth.

Data shows that in Spain’s wealth distribution, 24.2 percent of total wealth is in the hands of the ultra-rich, while the bottom 50 percent own only 7 percent of total wealth. They are values same as in surrounding countriesLike France, where 27% of total wealth is in the hands of the richest, or Germany, with 29.7%.

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Image | Unsplash (Towfiqu barbhuiya, Shane), SOL Foundation, World Inequality Database