World's richest 1% has more wealth than remaining 99%, says Oxfam

The world’s richest 1% now has more wealth than the rest of humanity put together, according to a new briefing paper from Oxfam.

Its report “An Economy for the 1%” said the milestone was hit a year earlier than Oxfam predicted last year.

Using data from Credit Suisse, it also said in the last five years that wealth owned by the bottom half of humanity has fallen by $1 trillion, a drop of 41%.

It also calculated that 62 people had the same wealth of 3.6bn people, down from 388 individuals in 2010.

“This is just the latest evidence that today we live in a world with levels of inequality we may not have seen for over a century,” the report said.

It claimed the global economy is skewed in favour of those at the top.

“Far from trickling down, income and wealth are instead being sucked upwards at an alarming rate.

“Once there, an ever more elaborate system of tax havens and an industry of wealth managers ensure that it stays there, far from the reach of ordinary citizens and their governments.”

The report, which was published just before the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, called for leaders to take action “to show they are on the side of the majority, and to bring a halt to the inequality crisis”.

“From living wages to better regulation of the activities of the financial sector, there is plenty that policy makers can do to end the economy for the 1% and start building a human economy that benefits everyone.”