Richest 2% own over half of world's wealth (Dharam Shourie)

  Dharam Shourie -- Rediff

  Dec. 5, 2006 -- NEW YORK -- The richest two per cent of adults in the world own more than half of global household wealth, according to a study released Tuesday.

  In 2000 the richest one per cent of adults owned 40 percent of global wealth, a report by the Helsinki-based World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University said.

  Its comprehensive study of personal wealth has revealed that the richest 10 percent of adults accounted for 85 percent of the total global assets.

  In contrast, the bottom half of the world adult population owned barely one per cent of global wealth. Average wealth amounted to $144,000 per person in the USA in year 2000, and $181,000 in Japan.

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