World’s Wealthiest 0.001% Now Control Triple the Wealth of Bottom Half, Global Report Finds

A new study reveals that fewer than 60,000 of the world’s richest individuals hold three times more wealth than the poorest 4 billion people combined, underscoring what researchers call “extreme and entrenched” inequality across nations.

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom

The World Inequality Report 2026, compiled by more than 200 economists and released Wednesday, found that the top 0.001% of the global population—roughly 60,000 multi-millionaires and billionaires—now control more than triple the total assets of the world’s bottom half. The top 10% own nearly three-quarters of global wealth, while the poorest 50% hold just 2%.

World Inequality Report 2026 by yourNEWS Media

Income inequality mirrors these figures. The report shows that the wealthiest tenth of the population earn more than the remaining 90% combined, while the poorest half receive less than one-tenth of all income. “The result is a world in which a tiny minority commands unprecedented financial power, while billions remain excluded from even basic economic stability,” the authors wrote.

The study highlights persistent gender disparities, noting that women earn only about 25% of global labor income, a ratio that has barely shifted since 1990. Education spending further reflects the divide: public investment per student averages $230 per year in Sub-Saharan Africa compared to $8,600 in Europe and $10,500 in North America and Oceania—a gap exceeding 40 to 1.

Researchers proposed a 3% global wealth tax on fewer than 100,000 centi-millionaires and billionaires, which could generate approximately $750 billion annually—roughly equal to the combined education budgets of low- and middle-income countries.

The report also critiques the structure of global finance, finding that richer nations act as “financial rentiers,” benefiting from lower borrowing costs and higher foreign returns. Roughly 1% of world GDP flows from poorer countries to wealthier ones each year through debt payments and profit repatriation—nearly triple the amount of total global development aid.

The findings, analysts say, reveal a world economy increasingly dominated by a small elite whose concentration of wealth threatens to widen social and political divides unless governments act to rebalance fiscal and educational investment worldwide.