'Haves' have most of it

Die gaping tussen ryk en arm word groter. Tien persent van die wêreld se bevolking besit 85% van wêreld se rykdom. Indien jou bates jou laste oorskry met 450 000 dan is jy deel hierdie 10%!

London - The richest 2% of adults still own more than half of the world's household wealth, perpetuating a yawning global gap between rich and poor, according to research published on Tuesday.

The report from the Helsinki-based World Institute for Development Economics Research shows that in 2000 the richest 1% of adults - most of whom live in Europe and the US - owned 40% of global assets.

The richest 10% of adults accounted for 85% of assets, the report said.

By contrast, the bottom 50% of the world's adult population owned barely 1% of the world's wealth.

"Income inequality has been rising for the past 20-25 years and we think that is true for inequality in the distribution of wealth," said James Davies, a professor of economics at the University of Western Ontario, one of the report's authors.

"There is a whole group of problems in developing countries that make it difficult for people to build up assets, which are important, since life is so precarious."

Politicians 'very concerned'

The gulf between rich and poor nations has long concerned politicians and economists, who say it is one of the biggest obstacles to development.

But Davies said there are some hopeful signs: China and India, which are developing rapidly, are gaining wealth and in countries like Bangladesh, the spread of micro-credit institutions is helping people to increase their personal wealth, he said.

In other countries, land registration programs allow the poor to own land for the first time, he said.

According to the report, individual assets of US$2 200 (R15 680.87) placed an adult in the top half of the world's wealth distribution in 2000.

Those in the richest 10% of adults had assets of US$61 000 or more while those in the top 1% - who now number 37 million - had at least US$500 000.

Researchers defined wealth as the value of physical and financial assets minus debts.