Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Dec.8: The newest World Inequality Report 2022 revealed that India is a “poor and very unequal country with an affluent elite,” with the top 10% of the population owning 57% of the total national income and the bottom 50% owning only 13%.
The analysis also flagged a reduction in global income in 2020, with rich countries accounting for half of the drop and low-income and emerging regions accounting for the remainder. This is mostly owing to the influence of South and Southeast Asia, particularly India.
The report authored by economist and co-director of the World Inequality Lab, Lucas Chancel, along with economists Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman states, “When India is removed from the analysis, it appears that the global bottom 50 per cent income share actually slightly increased in 2020.”
“While the top 10% and top 1% hold respectively 57% and 22% of total national income, the bottom 50% share has gone down to 13%. India stands out as a poor and very unequal country, with an affluent elite,” the report adds.
According to the survey, India’s middle class is comparatively impoverished, with an average worth of Rs 7,23,930, or 29.5% of total national income, compared to the top 10% and 1%, who possess 65% (Rs 63,54,070) and 33% (Rs 3,24,49,360) of the entire national income, respectively.
In 2021, the Indian adult population’s average yearly national income is Rs 2,04,200. According to the research, the bottom 50% earned Rs 53,610, while the top 10% earned over 20 times more (Rs 11,66,520). In India, the average household wealth is Rs 9,83,010, with the bottom half of the population owning nearly nothing, with an average wealth of Rs 66,280.
Global inequities appear to be nearly as high today as they were during the peak of Western imperialism in the early twentieth century, according to the analysis. The poorest half of the global population “barely owns any wealth,” with only 2% of the total, while the richest 10% of the global population control 76% of all wealth, according to the report.
Worldwide, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are the world’s most unequal regions, while Europe has the lowest levels of inequality. In Europe, the top 10% of income earners account for roughly 36% of total income, whereas in MENA, it accounts for 58%. In East Asia, the top 10% earns 43% of total income, whereas in Latin America, the top 10% earns 55%.
