explanade
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For the Davos World Economic Forum, Oxfam is highlighting that the wealthiest 1% of the world will own more than 50% of global wealth, based on data from the Credit Suisse Global Wealth datebook.
In the BBC article about this announcement, a demarcation of how much wealth it takes to be in that 1% is estimated:
BBC News - Richest 1% to own more than rest of world, Oxfam says
In the BBC article about this announcement, a demarcation of how much wealth it takes to be in that 1% is estimated:
Oxfam based its prediction on data from the annual Credit Suisse Global Wealth datebook, which gives the distribution of global wealth going back to 2000. It uses the value of an individual's financial and non-financial assets, mainly property and land, minus their debts to determine what individuals "own".
The data excludes wages or income.
The BBC's head of statistics, Anthony Reuben, said in order to be part of the wealthiest 1% of the world's population, an individual would need to be worth just over half a million pounds.
"So it is not necessarily talking about people who own yachts and ski chalets. Owning an average house in London (without a mortgage) would just about put you in the 1%. "
He also noted that Oxfam had chosen to use figures which showed the disparity between the 1% and the rest of the world in the worst light.
"From 2000 until 2009, the proportion of wealth held by the wealthiest 1% fell every year. From 2010 until 2014 it rose every year. Oxfam has taken the figures since 2010 and used them to extrapolate what will happen in the coming years. Clearly, that is the methodology that will make inequality look the most severe," he added.
BBC News - Richest 1% to own more than rest of world, Oxfam says