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Rich Man, Poor Man
- The amount of money that the richest 1 percent of the world's people make each year equals what the poorest 57 percent make.
- World's 358 billionaires have assets exceeding the combined annual incomes of countries with 45 percent of the world's people
- The richest 5 percent of the world's people have incomes 114 times that of the poorest 5 percent
- The combined wealth of the world's 200 richest people hit $1 trillion in 1999; the combined incomes of the 582 million people living in the 43 least developed countries is $146 billion
- The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the poorest 48 nations (i.e. a quarter of the world's countries) is less than the wealth of the world's three richest people combined
- A few hundred millionaires now own as much wealth as the world's poorest 2.5 billion people
Rich Nations, Poor Nations
- 20% of the population in the developed nations, consume 86% of the worlds goods
- A mere 12 percent of the world's population uses 85 percent of its water, and these 12 percent do not live in the
- Globally, the 20% of the world's people in the highest-income countries account for 86% of total private consumption expenditures - the poorest 20% a minuscule 1.3%. More specifically, the richest fifth:
- Consume 45% of all meat and fish, the poorest fifth 5%.
- Consume 58% of total energy, the poorest fifth less than 4%.
- Have 74% of all telephone lines, the poorest fifth 1.5%.
- Consume 84% of all paper, the poorest fifth 1.1%.
- Own 87% of the world's vehicle fleet, the poorest fifth less than 1%.
- An analysis of long-term trends shows the distance between the richest and poorest countries was about :
- 5 to 1 in 1820
- 11 to 1 in 1913
- 35 to 1 in 195-
- 44 to 1 in 1973
- 72 to 1 in 1992
- The cost of providing basic health care and nutrition for all in the world would be less than is spent in Europe and the
Rich Corporations, Poor Nations
- The annual revenue of Motorola is almost equal to the annual income of
Poverty, Hunger
- More than 840 million people in the world are malnourished—799 million of them are from the developing world. More than 153 million of them are under the age of 5.
- Hunger kills. Every day, 34,000 children under five die of hunger or preventable diseases resulting from hunger or 6 million in a year
- Of the 6.2 billion people in today's world, 1.2 billion live on less than $1 per day. Nearly 3 billion people live on less than $2 a day
- 1.2 billion lack access to clean water; 2.4 billion live without decent sanitation; and 4 billion without wastewater disposal.
- 12 million people die each year from lack of water, including 3 million children from waterborne disease: More than 113 million children in the developing world are without access to basic education; 60 percent of them are girls.
The following information comes from the World Revolution page.
The assets of the 200 richest people in 1998 were more than the total annual income of 41% of the world's people.
UNDP Human Development Report 1999
The richest 20% of the world population now receives 150 times the income of the poorest 20%.
UNDP Human Development Report 1992
The richest one-fifth of the world:
- Consume 45 percent of all meat and fish, the poorest fifth 5 percent
- Consume 58 percent of total energy, the poorest fifth less than 4 percent
- Have 74 percent of all telephone lines, the poorest fifth 1.5 percent
- Consume 84 percent of all paper, the poorest fifth 1.1 percent
- Own 87 percent of the world's vehicle fleet, the poorest fifth less than 1 percent.UNDP Human Development Report 1998
The richest 20 percent of the population now receives 150 times the income of the poorest 20 percent.
UNDP Human Development Report 1992
The bottom line for poverty and incomes: The share of the poorest 20 percent of the world's people in global income now stands at a miserable 1.1 percent, down from 1.4 percent in 1991 and 2.3 percent in 1960. It continues to shrink. And the ratio of the income of the top 20 percent to that of the poorest 20 percent rose from 30 to 1 in 1960, to 61 to 1 in 1991 - and to startling new high of 78 to 1 in 1994.
UNDP Human Development Report 1997
The income gap between the richest fifth of the world's people and the poorest fifth, measured by average national income per head, increased from 30 to one in 1960, to 74 to one in 1997.
Human Development Report, United Nations Development Program, 1999.
Within nations, the income gap has been growing as well. Russia now has the world's greatest inequality, with the richest 20 percent having 11 times the income of the bottom 20 percent. Income inequalities have also grown dramatically in China, Indonesia, Thailand, other East and South-East Asian countries, and in the industrialized countries, especially Sweden, Britain, and the United States.
"The State of the World," Stephen R. Shalom
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