Richest 1% earn 20% of global income

Income inequality across the world has risen quite rapidly since the 1980s. The richest 1 percent in the world now accounts for 20 percent of total global income, up from around 16 percent in 1980. By comparison, the share of the bottom 50 percent in global income has oscillated around 9 per cent since the 1980s, finds a new study. World Inequality Report 2018 finds that in 2016, the top 10 percent of the population in India, Brazil and sub-Saharan Africa alone accounted for a 55 percent of their country’ s national income. For the US and Canada, the corresponding number was 47 per cent. The report also says income inequality in India has reached historically high levels. In 1983, the top 1 percent captured only 6 percent of national income. The top 10 percent accounted for 30 percent, while the bottom 50 percent earned roughly 24 percent of total income.