Russia, India and Thailand Rank as the World’s Most Unequal Nations

December 7, 2016

Russia, India and Thailand are the most unequal nations in the world in terms of wealth distribution, a recent study has revealed.

According to Credit Suisse’s Global Wealth Report 2016, the top 1% of the Russian population controls a whopping 74.5% of the country’s wealth. Meanwhile, India and Thailand come in close 2nd and 3rd, with each country’s 1 percenters owning 58.4% and 58% of their nation’s resources, respectively.

Inequality is also significantly high in Indonesia and Brazil with about 50% of the wealth controlled by their top 1%. While the worldwide trend in the past decade has shown growing equality in most countries, the world has grown more and more unequal since the 2008 financial crisis.

The report said that wealth inequality has been a major issue overall, “in almost every part of the world”.

“Our estimates suggest that the lower half of the global population collectively owns less than 1% of global wealth, while the richest 10 per cent of adults own 89 per cent of all wealth, with the top 1% accounting for half of all global assets,” the report further stated.

Credit Suisse also identified Switzerland as the richest country per capita, while both the U.S. and Japan are seen as the biggest earners in the world in terms of improving household wealth.

The report also noted that, for the first time in history, Asia-Pacific wealth is now greater than North American wealth. Such wealth increase is fueled mostly by a steady growth in real estate markets and stronger economies.

With a 4% rise, the global wealth has grown to $58.7 trillion. European wealth alone has risen to 4.8% with $13.6 trillion.

Latin America and Africa on the other hand, both decreased in wealth significantly. Africa, India, and the Asia-Pacific region now account for 72% of the world’s poorest citizens.

Image via Flickr / thisisbossi

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