The world is extremely unequal by World Inequality Database, Oxfam, WFP, agencies 8:49am 28th Jan, 2026   The world is extremely unequal. (World Inequality Report 2026)    Inequality has long been a defining feature of the global economy, but by 2025, it has reached levels that demand urgent attention. The benefits of globalization and economic growth have flowed disproportionately to a small minority, while much of the world’s population still face difficulties in achieving stable livelihoods. These divides are not inevitable. They are the outcome of political and institutional choices.    This report draws on the World Inequality Database and new research to provide a comprehensive picture of inequality across income, wealth, gender, international finance, climate responsibility, taxation, and politics.    The findings are clear: inequality remains extreme and persistent; it manifests across multiple dimensions that intersect and reinforce one another; and it reshapes democracies, fragmenting coalitions and eroding political consensus. Yet the data also demonstrate that inequality can be reduced.    Policies such as redistributive transfers, progressive taxation, investment in human capital, and stronger labor rights have made a difference in some contexts. Proposals such as minimum wealth taxes on multi-millionaires illustrate the scale of resources that could be mobilized to finance education, health, and climate adaptation.    Reducing inequality is not only about fairness but also essential for the resilience of economies, the stability of democracies, and the viability of our planet.    The first and most striking fact emerging from the data is that inequality remains at very high levels. Today, the top 10% of the global population’s income-earners earn more than the remaining 90%, while the poorest half of the global population captures less than 10% of the total global income. Wealth is even more concentrated: the top 10% own three-quarters of global wealth, while the bottom half holds only 2%.    The wealthiest 0.001% alone, fewer than 60,000 multi-millionaires, control today three times more wealth than half of humanity combined. This concentration is not only persistent, but it is also accelerating. Extreme wealth inequality is rapidly increasing. Since the 1990s, the wealth of billionaires and centi-millionaires has grown at approximately 8% annually, nearly twice the rate of growth experienced by the bottom half of the population.    Inequality is not only a question of income and wealth. It is also embedded in the structures of everyday life, shaping whose work is recognized, whose contributions are rewarded, and whose opportunities are constrained. Among the most persistent and pervasive divides is the gap between men and women.    Globally, women capture just over a quarter of total labor income, a share that has barely shifted since 1990.    When analyzed by regions, in the Middle East & North Africa, women’s share is only 16%; in South & Southeast Asia it is 20%; in Sub-Saharan Africa, 28%; and in East Asia, 34%. Europe, North America & Oceania, as well as Russia & Central Asia, perform better, but women still capture only about 40% of labor income.    Women continue to work more and earn less than men. Women work more hours than men, on average 53 hours per week compared to 43 for men, once domestic and care work is taken into account. Yet their work is consistently valued less.    Studying inequality across countries and over time reveals that policy can indeed reduce inequality. Progressive taxation and, especially, redistributive transfers can significantly reduce inequality. Taxation often fails where it is most needed: at the very top of the distribution. The ultra-rich escape taxation.    Effective income tax rates climb steadily for most of the population but fall sharply for billionaires and centi-millionaires. These elites pay proportionally less than most of the households that earn much lower incomes.    This regressive pattern deprives states of resources for essential investments in education, healthcare, and climate action. It also undermines fairness and social cohesion by decreasing trust in the tax system.    Progressive taxation is therefore crucial: it not only mobilizes revenues to finance public goods and reduce inequality, but also strengthens the legitimacy of fiscal systems by ensuring that those with the greatest means contribute their fair share.    Reducing inequality is a political choice. But fragmented electorates, underrepresentation of workers, and the outsized influence of wealth all work against the coalitions needed for reform. This reality can change. It reflects political choices about campaign finance rules, party strategies, and institutional design that can be reshaped with sufficient will. Inequality can be reduced. There are a range of policies that, in different ways, have proven effective in narrowing gaps.    One important avenue is through public investments in education and health. These are among the most powerful equalizers, yet access to these basic services remains uneven and stratified.    Public investment in free, high-quality schools, universal healthcare, childcare, and nutrition programs can reduce early-life disparities and foster lifelong learning opportunities.    Another path is through redistributive programs. Cash transfers, pensions, unemployment benefits, and support for vulnerable households can directly shift resources from the top to the bottom of the distribution. Where well designed, such measures have narrowed income gaps, strengthened social cohesion, and provided buffers against shocks.    Progress can also come from advancing gender equality. Reducing gender gaps requires dismantling the structural barriers that shape how work is valued and distributed. Policies that recognize and redistribute unpaid care work, through affordable childcare, parental leave that includes fathers, and pension credits for caregivers, are essential to leveling the playing field.    Equally important are the strict enforcement of equal pay and stronger protections against workplace discrimination. Addressing these imbalances ensures that opportunities and rewards are not determined by gender but by contribution and capability.    Tax policy is another powerful lever. Fairer tax systems, where those at the very top contribute at higher rates through progressive taxes, not only mobilize resources but also strengthen fiscal legitimacy. Even modest rates of a global minimum tax on billionaires and centi-millionaires could raise between 0.45% and 1.11% of global GDP and could finance transformative investments in education, healthcare, and climate adaptation.    Inequality can also be reduced by reforming the global financial system. Current arrangements allow advanced economies to borrow cheaply and secure steady inflows, while developing economies face costly liabilities and persistent outflows.    Inequality is a political choice. It is the result of our policies, institutions, and governance structures. The costs of escalating inequality are clear: widening divides, fragile democracies, and a climate crisis borne most heavily by those least responsible.    But the possibilities of reform are equally clear. Where redistribution is strong, taxation is fair, and social investment is prioritized, inequality narrows.    The tools exist. The challenge is political will. The choices we make will determine whether the global economy continues down a path of extreme concentration or moves toward shared prosperity.    http://wir2026.wid.world/ http://wir2026.wid.world/insights/ http://wir2026.wid.world/insight/executive-summary http://wir2026.wid.world/medias/ http://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2025/dec/10/just-0001-hold-three-times-the-wealth-of-poorest-half-of-humanity-report-finds http://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/explainer/gender-equality-in-2025-gains-gaps-and-the-342t-choice http://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2025/09/progress-on-the-sustainable-development-goals-the-gender-snapshot-2025    Jan. 2026    Billionaires’ wealth hits record in 2025, Oxfam warns of of “highly dangerous” political consequences. (Oxfam, AFP, agencies)    The collective wealth of the planet's billionaires soared to a record level in 2025, charity Oxfam reported today, warning of "highly dangerous" political consequences as the global financial elite gathers for the World Economic Forum.    US President Donald Trump's policies in particular spurred the fortunes of the ultra-rich, which jumped 16.2 percent in the first year of his second term to $18.3 trillion, the NGO said in a report released each year ahead of the Davos forum.    "Actions of the Trump presidency including the championing of deregulation and undermining agreements to increase corporate taxation have benefited the richest around the world," Oxfam said.    The world now has more than 3,000 billionaires for the first time, it added, with the top 12 -- led by Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk -- having "more wealth than the poorest half of humanity, or more than four billion people".    Increasingly this money is buying political power, Oxfam said, pointing in particular to tycoons' buying newspapers and other media, such as Musk's takeover of X or the purchase of The Washington Post by Amazon's Jeff Bezos.    "The widening gap between the rich and the rest is at the same time creating a political deficit that is highly dangerous and unsustainable," Oxfam's executive director Amitabh Behar said.    For Oxfam, Washington's decision to exempt US multinationals from an internationally agreed minimum tax rate of 15 percent was a stark example of ignoring growing inequality.    "In country after country, the super-rich have not only accumulated more wealth than could ever be spent, but have also used this wealth to secure the political power to shape the rules that define our economies and govern nations," it said.    "Such power gives billionaires a grasp over all our futures, undermining political freedom and eroding the rights of the many."    http://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/billionaire-wealth-jumps-three-times-faster-2025-highest-peak-ever http://www.oxfam.org/en/research/resisting-rule-rich http://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202511/g20-global-inequality-report-full-and-summary.pdf http://www.neep-poverty.org/news/ http://gi-escr.org/en/our-work/on-the-ground/joint-letter-urging-president-ramaphosa-to-confront-extreme-inequality-at-the-g20 http://gcap.global/news/gcap-and-global-south-civil-society-urge-g20-to-draw-a-red-line-on-billionaire-era-demand-action-on-debt-and-tax-justice/ http://www.bosch-stiftung.de/en/publication/fabric-inequalities http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/02/fair-and-effective-tax-policies-needed-advance-economic-social-and-cultural    Jan. 2026    World Food Programme calls on business leaders, private sector at Davos to address Global Hunger. (WFP)    The agency estimates that at least 318 million people face crisis levels of hunger or worse this year, with hundreds of thousands already experiencing famine-like conditions.    Current forecasts put WFP’s funding at just under half of its needed USD13 billion budget to reach 110 million people – roughly one-third of the most vulnerable. This funding gap means meals cut, rations reduced, and a deepening hunger crisis that will cost countless lives.    “Hunger drives displacement, conflict, and instability and these not only threaten lives, but disrupt the very markets that businesses depend on,” said Rania Dagash-Kamara, WFP’s Assistant Executive Director for Partnerships and Innovation, who is attending the forum this week. “I’m here to remind everyone that the world cannot build stable markets on a foundation of 318 million hungry people. I come with an intensifying crisis that has a solution in Davos: invest in the global stability your companies need by supporting our proven ability to reduce hunger on the planet.”    "The private sector must keep hunger and food security as a top‑tier priority. We can address hunger at scale and bring economic benefits to local communities everywhere. We know we can,” said Dagash-Kamara. “The question is whether we will have the resources to make it happen. Together we can have unprecedented impact in addressing what is both a humanitarian and economic crisis. The private sector has the resources needed to accelerate our efforts. Now is the time to offer your support.”    http://reliefweb.int/report/world/acute-food-insecurity-2025-global-overview http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipc-country-analysis/en http://www.fightfoodcrises.net/hunger-hotspots http://humanitarianaction.info/document/global-humanitarian-overview-2026 http://www.nrc.no/news/2025/december/2026-millions-in-need-will-not-get-aid-unless-global-solidarity-revived Visit the related web page
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