Fewer than 60,000 people—just 0.001% of the world’s population—control three times as much wealth as the entire bottom half of humanity, according to a landmark report arguing global inequality has reached levels demanding urgent action.
The World Inequality Report 2026, compiled by 200 researchers, found the top 10% of income earners take home more than the other 90% combined, whilst the poorest half capture less than 10% of total global earnings.
Wealth proved even more concentrated than income. The richest 10% own 75% of global wealth whilst the bottom half possess just 2%. In nearly every region, the top 1% command more wealth than the bottom 90% combined, with inequality accelerating worldwide.
“The result is a world in which a tiny minority commands unprecedented financial power, while billions remain excluded from even basic economic stability,” wrote the authors, led by Ricardo Gómez-Carrera of the Paris School of Economics.
The share of global wealth held by the top 0.001% has surged from nearly 4% in 1995 to more than 6% today. Multimillionaire wealth has grown roughly 8% annually since the 1990s—almost twice the rate for the bottom half.
The authors, including influential French economist Thomas Piketty, said that whilst inequality has “long been a defining feature of the global economy”, by 2025 it has “reached levels that demand urgent attention”. Reducing inequality is “not only about fairness, but essential for the resilience of economies, the stability of democracies, and the viability of our planet”.
Produced every four years with the United Nations Development Programme, the report draws on the world’s largest open-access database on economic inequality and shapes international debate on the issue.
Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz called in a preface for an international panel comparable to the UN’s climate change body to “track inequality worldwide and provide objective, evidence-based recommendations”.
Beyond strict economic measures, the report found inequality of opportunity fuels inequality of outcomes. Education spending per child in Europe and North America exceeds that in sub-Saharan Africa by more than 40 times—a gap roughly three times greater than GDP per capita differences.
A 3% global tax on fewer than 100,000 centimillionaires and billionaires would raise $750bn annually, the report calculated—equivalent to the entire education budget of low and middle-income countries.
The global financial system exacerbates inequality by favouring rich countries, which borrow cheaply and invest abroad at higher returns, acting as “financial rentiers”. About 1% of global GDP flows from poorer to richer countries each year through net income transfers—nearly three times the amount of global development aid.
Gender inequality persists across all regions. Excluding unpaid work, women earn just 61% of what men earn per working hour. Including unpaid labour, that figure plummets to 32%.
Wealth inequality drives climate inequality. The poorest half of humanity account for just 3% of carbon emissions from private capital ownership, whilst the wealthiest 10% account for roughly 77%. “Those who emit the least, largely populations in low-income countries, are also those most exposed to climate shocks. Those who emit the most are more insulated against the impacts of climate change,” the report stated.
The ultra-rich often escape taxation despite their wealth. “Effective income tax rates climb steadily for most of the population, but then fall sharply for billionaires and centimillionaires,” the report found. “These elites pay less than most of the households that earn much lower incomes.”
The evidence shows inequalities can be reduced through public investment in education and health, alongside effective taxation and redistribution. But reducing inequality is a political choice made harder by “fragmented electorates, under-representation of workers, and the outsized influence of wealth”.
“The tools exist. The challenge is political will,” the report concluded.
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