The wealthiest 1 percent of the global population now control more wealth than the remaining 99 percent combined, according to a new report by the international aid group Oxfam.
Oxfam issued the report on January 18 in the run-up to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
According to Oxfam, the richest 62 individuals in the world own as much wealth as the poorest 3.5 billion people on the planet. The wealth of those 62 individuals has risen by 44 percent since 2010.
About one-half of those wealthiest people are from the United States, 17 are from Europe, and the rest come from countries such as China, Brazil, Mexico, and Japan.
In addition, some $7.6 trillion of wealth is tied up in offshore tax havens; if taxes were paid on the income that wealth generates, governments would have an additional $190 billion in resources.
The same day, the United Nations issued a report saying the world needs to spend an additional $15 billion annually on assistance to victims of conflicts and national disasters.
That report recommends raising the money with a voluntary tax on soccer or concert tickets and by tapping into Islamic financing mechanisms and alms-giving.
Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP