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Report: Richest 1% cornered 82% of wealth created in 2017

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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.

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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%.
Income equality
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