The richest 1% of people in the world now hold more wealth than the overwhelming majority of the global population combined, with Cyprus experiencing the world’s largest increase in wealth concentration among the ultra-rich since 2000.
The top 1% of earners in Cyprus expanded their share of national wealth from 12.8% to 33.3% between 2000 and 2023, according to a new study by BestBrokers using data from the World Inequality Database covering 217 countries.
Ultra-wealthy share jumps from 12.8% to 33.3% in Cyprus
Cyprus recorded one of Europe’s steepest increases in wealth concentration, with the top 10% of income earners seeing their share of national wealth rise by 16 percentage points from 50.7% in 2000 to 66.7% in 2023.
The report, titled “Wealth Inequality in the 21st Century: Countries Where the Rich Have Gotten Richer Since 2000“, identified China as experiencing the most dramatic overall increase in wealth concentration among the top 10%, rising from 48.3% in 2000 to 68% in 2023.
Golden passport programme linked to property price surge
The study attributed Cyprus’s wealth concentration partly to the country’s “golden passport” programme between 2007 and 2020, which attracted wealthy foreign investors and drove up property prices.
South Africa currently has the largest wealth gap, with the richest 10% holding approximately 85.8% of total national wealth. Slovenia, which had the lowest inequality at the century’s start, with the top 1% holding 12.1%, also saw significant increases, with the ultra-wealthy controlling 23.1% of wealth by 2023.