Jan 22, 2018
Report: Richest 1% cornered 82% of wealth created in 2017
Image: Pacific Press / Getty Images
Last year saw a widening of the global inequality gap and the biggest increase of billionaires in history, according to a report from the anti-poverty charity Oxfam.
Why it matters: Billionaires grew their wealth by $762 billion in 12 months, an increase that Oxfam says could have ended "global extreme poverty" seven times over.
By the numbers:
- 82% of all wealth created last year went to the top 1%, while the bottom 50% saw no increase at all.
- A billionaire was created every two days in 2017, bringing the total to 2,043.
- Nine out of 10 billionaires are men.
- 42 people own the same wealth as the bottom 3.7 billion.
- The three richest people in the U.S. own the same wealth as the bottom 50%.