It's Official: The Richest 1% Has As Much Wealth As The Other 99%

It’s official, and officially a bummer. The richest one per cent has as much wealth as the rest of the world, combined.

The news comes from Oxfam, using data provided by Credit Suisse in October.

But what does it mean to be in the top one per cent? According to the BBC, to be included among the top one per cent, you need cash and assets amounting to approximately £533,000 (or AUD$849,000). Owning a home to that value, without a mortgage, would effectively place you squarely in the upper echelons of global wealth.

Though it's unlikely young readers can boast of that, there's a good chance most know someone who does.

Of course, unwitting membership in the one per cent is no crime. However, acknowledging that bar for entry should help contextualise our national privilege, and how fortunate our nation truly is. We should all ponder the question: Are we doing enough to help those who go without?

Oxfam also made this especially disturbing calculation: that the wealthiest 62 people in the world have the same amount of wealth as the poorest 50 per cent of the global population. 62 individuals. And one half of the planet.

Some economic think tanks have called the data “misleading” but the point made by Oxfam is irrefutable: a lot of the global wealth belongs to a select few.

With the World Economic Forum taking place in Davos this week, hopefully they’ll consider some of these shocking statistics and discuss inequality with greater urgency than they have in the past.