Billionaires' share of global wealth soars during pandemic

Year 2020 marks the steepest increase in global billionaires' share of wealth on record

PARIS:

The share of global wealth of the world's richest people soared at a record pace during the Covid pandemic, a report on inequality showed Tuesday.

Since 1995, the slice held by billionaires has risen from one percent to three percent, according to the World Inequality Report.

"This increase was exacerbated during the Covid pandemic. In fact, 2020 marked the steepest increase in global billionaires' share of wealth on record," the document said.

The club of the richest one percent has taken more than a third of all additional wealth accumulated since 1995, while the bottom 50 percent captured just two percent.

Also read: Tesla's Elon Musk becomes richest person in history

"After more than 18 months of Covid-19, the world is even more

polarised," Lucas Chancel, co-director of the World Inequality Lab at the Paris School of Economics, told AFP.

"While the wealth of billionaires rose by more than 3.6 trillion euros ($4 trillion), 100 million more people joined the ranks of extreme poverty," said Chancel, noting that extreme poverty had been previously falling for 25 years.

A real-time ranking by Forbes magazine shows that the top 10 richest people each have a net worth exceeding $100 billion, with Tesla boss Elon Musk on top with around $265 billion.