Billionaires with a net worth over 50 billion U.S. dollars had a combined net worth of nearly two trillion dollars in 2023. Billionaires with a fortune of two to five billion U.S. dollars had the highest combined total wealth, nearly reaching three trillion U.S. dollars. That year, there were 18 persons with a fortune of over 50 billion dollars.

The poorest half of the world's population holds just around *** percent of the global wealth, this represented a slight increase since 2000. By comparison, the richest percent holds more than ** percent of the global wealth.

The OECD Income Distribution database (IDD) has been developed to benchmark and monitor countries' performance in the field of income inequality and poverty. It contains a number of standardised indicators based on the central concept of "equivalised household disposable income", i.e. the total income received by the households less the current taxes and transfers they pay, adjusted for household size with an equivalence scale. While household income is only one of the factors shaping people's economic well-being, it is also the one for which comparable data for all OECD countries are most common. Income distribution has a long-standing tradition among household-level statistics, with regular data collections going back to the 1980s (and sometimes earlier) in many OECD countries.

Achieving comparability in this field is a challenge, as national practices differ widely in terms of concepts, measures, and statistical sources. In order to maximise international comparability as well as inter-temporal consistency of data, the IDD data collection and compilation process is based on a common set of statistical conventions (e.g. on income concepts and components). The information obtained by the OECD through a network of national data providers, via a standardized questionnaire, is based on national sources that are deemed to be most representative for each country.

Small changes in estimates between years should be treated with caution as they may not be statistically significant.

Fore more details, please refer to: https://www.oecd.org/els/soc/IDD-Metadata.pdf and https://www.oecd.org/social/income-distribution-database.htm

The massive wealth inequality in the world is underpinned by this chart: while *** percent of the world's population had fortunes of more than one million U.S. dollars in 2025, over ** percent of the global population had a total wealth of less than 10,000 U.S. dollars.

The level of global financial assets was expected to increase from ***** trillion U.S. dollars in 2023 to roughly *** trillion U.S. dollars by 2028. The United States is forecast to make up the largest portion of this global wealth, with the Asia-Pacific ranking ******.

Cross-national research on the causes and consequences of income inequality has been hindered by the limitations of existing inequality datasets: greater coverage across countries and over time is available from these sources only at the cost of significantly reduced comparability across observations. The goal of the Standardized World Income Inequality Database (SWIID) is to overcome these limitations. A custom missing-data algorithm was used to standardize the United Nations University's World Income Inequality Database and data from other sources; data collected by the Luxembourg Income Study served as the standard. The SWIID provides comparable Gini indices of gross and net income inequality for 192 countries for as many years as possible from 1960 to the present along with estimates of uncertainty in these statistics. By maximizing comparability for the largest possible sample of countries and years, the SWIID is better suited to broadly cross-national research on income inequality than previously available sources: it offers coverage double that of the next largest income inequality dataset, and its record of comparability is three to eight times better than those of alternate datasets.

AM: Income Share Held by Highest 10% data was reported at 23.000 % in 2022. This records a decrease from the previous number of 23.600 % for 2021. AM: Income Share Held by Highest 10% data is updated yearly, averaging 25.200 % from Dec 1999 (Median) to 2022, with 23 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 31.700 % in 2004 and a record low of 21.500 % in 2020. AM: Income Share Held by Highest 10% data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Armenia – Table AM.World Bank.WDI: Social: Poverty and Inequality. Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population indicated by deciles or quintiles.;World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are mostly from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see http://pip.worldbank.org.;;The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than 2000 household surveys across 169 countries. See the Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP) for details (www.pip.worldbank.org).

Around 36 percent of the world's collected net personal wealth belongs to the richest one percent. The share of global wealth owned by the richest percent fell during the global financial crisis in 2008/2009, and has been fluctuating since. One-third of the world's billionaires reside in North America.

The average for 2021 based on 71 countries was 27.53 percent. The highest value was in Colombia: 43.7 percent and the lowest value was in Slovakia: 19.1 percent. The indicator is available from 1963 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

In 2023, the Middle East and North Africa, and Latin America were the regions with the lowest level of distribution of wealth worldwide, with the richest ten percent holding around 75 percent of the total wealth. On the other hand, in Europe, the richest ten percent held around 60 percent of the wealth. East and South Asia were the regions where the poorest half of the population held the highest share of the wealth, but still only around five percent, underlining the high levels of wealth inequalities worldwide.

The world's richest 10 percent holds more than three quarters of the world's total wealth. Although their share decreased by around five percentage points since 1995, this underlines the massive wealth inequalities existing around the world. By comparison, the poorest half of the world population holds less than two percent of global wealth. The richest percent holds more than 40 percent of the global wealth.

United States US: Proportion of People Living Below 50 Percent Of Median Income: % data was reported at 15.500 % in 2021. This records a decrease from the previous number of 17.000 % for 2020. United States US: Proportion of People Living Below 50 Percent Of Median Income: % data is updated yearly, averaging 17.700 % from Dec 1963 (Median) to 2021, with 59 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 19.000 % in 1993 and a record low of 15.500 % in 2021. United States US: Proportion of People Living Below 50 Percent Of Median Income: % data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Social: Poverty and Inequality. The percentage of people in the population who live in households whose per capita income or consumption is below half of the median income or consumption per capita. The median is measured at 2017 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) using the Poverty and Inequality Platform (http://www.pip.worldbank.org). For some countries, medians are not reported due to grouped and/or confidential data. The reference year is the year in which the underlying household survey data was collected. In cases for which the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the first year in which data were collected is reported.;World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are mostly from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see http://pip.worldbank.org.;;The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than 2000 household surveys across 169 countries. See the Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP) for details (www.pip.worldbank.org).

******* of the ** million U.S. dollar millionaires worldwide in 2022 had a wealth of more than ** million U.S. dollars. The vast majority of the global millionaires had a wealth between *** and **** million U.S. dollars.

In 2023, roughly 1.49 billion adults worldwide had a net worth of less than 10,000 U.S. dollars. By comparison, 58 million adults had a net worth of more than one million U.S. dollars in the same year. Wealth distribution The distribution of wealth is an indicator of economic inequality. The United Nations says that wealth includes the sum of natural, human, and physical assets. Wealth is not synonymous with income, however, because having a large income can be depleted if one has significant expenses. In 2023, nearly 1,700 billionaires had a total wealth between one to two billion U.S. dollars. Wealth worldwide China had the highest number of billionaires in 2023, with the United States following behind. That same year, New York had the most billionaires worldwide.

Brazil BR: Income Share Held by Highest 10% data was reported at 41.000 % in 2022. This records a decrease from the previous number of 41.600 % for 2021. Brazil BR: Income Share Held by Highest 10% data is updated yearly, averaging 44.550 % from Dec 1981 (Median) to 2022, with 38 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 51.100 % in 1989 and a record low of 39.500 % in 2020. Brazil BR: Income Share Held by Highest 10% data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Brazil – Table BR.World Bank.WDI: Social: Poverty and Inequality. Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population indicated by deciles or quintiles.;World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are mostly from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see http://pip.worldbank.org.;;The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than 2000 household surveys across 169 countries. See the Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP) for details (www.pip.worldbank.org).

Using national income and expenditure distribution data from 119 countries, the authors decompose total income inequality between the individuals in the world, by continent and by "region" (countries grouped by income level). They use a Gini decomposition that allows for an exact breakdown (without a residual term) of the overall Gini by recipients. Looking first at income inequality in income between countries is more important than inequality within countries. Africa, Latin America, and Western Europe and North America are quite homogeneous continent, with small differences between countries (so that most of the inequality on these continents is explained by inequality within countries). Next the authors divide the world into three groups: the rich G7 countries (and those with similar income levels), the less developed countries (those with per capita income less than or equal to Brazil's), and the middle-income countries (those with per capita income between Brazil's and Italy's). They find little overlap between such groups - very few people in developing countries have incomes in the range of those in the rich countries.

Switzerland Income Share Held by Lowest 10% data was reported at 3.200 % in 2015. This stayed constant from the previous number of 3.200 % for 2014. Switzerland Income Share Held by Lowest 10% data is updated yearly, averaging 3.150 % from Dec 2006 (Median) to 2015, with 10 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3.300 % in 2013 and a record low of 2.900 % in 2007. Switzerland Income Share Held by Lowest 10% data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Switzerland – Table CH.World Bank.WDI: Poverty. Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population indicated by deciles or quintiles.; ; World Bank, Development Research Group. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.htm).; ; The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than one thousand six hundred household surveys across 164 countries in six regions and 25 other high income countries (industrialized economies). While income distribution data are published for all countries with data available, poverty data are published for low- and middle-income countries and countries eligible to receive loans from the World Bank (such as Chile) and recently graduated countries (such as Estonia) only. See PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/WhatIsNew.aspx) for definitions of geographical regions and industrialized countries.

Colombia CO: Survey Mean Consumption or Income per Capita: Bottom 40% of Population: Annualized Average Growth Rate data was reported at -2.590 % in 2021. Colombia CO: Survey Mean Consumption or Income per Capita: Bottom 40% of Population: Annualized Average Growth Rate data is updated yearly, averaging -2.590 % from Dec 2021 (Median) to 2021, with 1 observations. The data reached an all-time high of -2.590 % in 2021 and a record low of -2.590 % in 2021. Colombia CO: Survey Mean Consumption or Income per Capita: Bottom 40% of Population: Annualized Average Growth Rate data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Colombia – Table CO.World Bank.WDI: Social: Poverty and Inequality. The growth rate in the welfare aggregate of the bottom 40% is computed as the annualized average growth rate in per capita real consumption or income of the bottom 40% of the population in the income distribution in a country from household surveys over a roughly 5-year period. Mean per capita real consumption or income is measured at 2017 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) using the Poverty and Inequality Platform (http://www.pip.worldbank.org). For some countries means are not reported due to grouped and/or confidential data. The annualized growth rate is computed as (Mean in final year/Mean in initial year)^(1/(Final year - Initial year)) - 1. The reference year is the year in which the underlying household survey data was collected. In cases for which the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the first year in which data were collected is reported. The initial year refers to the nearest survey collected 5 years before the most recent survey available, only surveys collected between 3 and 7 years before the most recent survey are considered. The coverage and quality of the 2017 PPP price data for Iraq and most other North African and Middle Eastern countries were hindered by the exceptional period of instability they faced at the time of the 2017 exercise of the International Comparison Program. See the Poverty and Inequality Platform for detailed explanations.;World Bank, Global Database of Shared Prosperity (GDSP) (http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/brief/global-database-of-shared-prosperity).;;The comparability of welfare aggregates (consumption or income) for the chosen years T0 and T1 is assessed for every country. If comparability across the two surveys is a major concern for a country, the selection criteria are re-applied to select the next best survey year(s). Annualized growth rates are calculated between the survey years, using a compound growth formula. The survey years defining the period for which growth rates are calculated and the type of welfare aggregate used to calculate the growth rates are noted in the footnotes.

Japan's share of global wealth stood at approximately **** percent in 2022, down from around *** percent in 2013. The total wealth held by adults in Japan amounted to approximately ** trillion U.S. dollars in 2022.

Sweden SE: Gini Coefficient (GINI Index): World Bank Estimate data was reported at 29.200 % in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 28.400 % for 2014. Sweden SE: Gini Coefficient (GINI Index): World Bank Estimate data is updated yearly, averaging 27.600 % from Dec 2003 (Median) to 2015, with 13 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 29.200 % in 2015 and a record low of 25.300 % in 2003. Sweden SE: Gini Coefficient (GINI Index): World Bank Estimate data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Sweden – Table SE.World Bank.WDI: Poverty. Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of income (or, in some cases, consumption expenditure) among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Lorenz curve plots the cumulative percentages of total income received against the cumulative number of recipients, starting with the poorest individual or household. The Gini index measures the area between the Lorenz curve and a hypothetical line of absolute equality, expressed as a percentage of the maximum area under the line. Thus a Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality.; ; World Bank, Development Research Group. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. For more information and methodology, please see PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.htm).; ; The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than one thousand six hundred household surveys across 164 countries in six regions and 25 other high income countries (industrialized economies). While income distribution data are published for all countries with data available, poverty data are published for low- and middle-income countries and countries eligible to receive loans from the World Bank (such as Chile) and recently graduated countries (such as Estonia) only. See PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/WhatIsNew.aspx) for definitions of geographical regions and industrialized countries.