The richest 1% of people in the world now have as much money as the remaining 99%, according to a study by Oxfam.
Based on data from Credit Suisse, Oxfam also said that the wealth of the 62 richest people is equal to the poorest half of the global population. It believes the richest 1% will overtake the wealth (or lack thereof) or the remaining 99% by this time next year.
Oxfam is using the report to urge global, economic and business leaders meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week to take action.
But the numbers involved may well surprise you. In order to be in the top 1%, Oxfam says you need cash and assets of $760,000 (£533,000) - meaning the average homeowner in London, without a mortgage, is probably in the top 1%. And to get into the top 10%, you need just £48,300. However, Credit Suisse explained that the net worth of the world's super-rich is often to discover, meaning estimates for the threshold of the top 10% and 1% are "likely to err on the low side".
The report said: "Instead of an economy that works for the prosperity of all, for future generations, and for the planet, we have instead created an economy for the 1%."
In order to tackle the gap between the 1% and the 99%, Oxfam is calling on governments to make raise minimum wages to the living wage, to close the gap between workers' and executives' pay, to close the gender pay gap, to tackle the use of tax havens, and to tackle lobbying.
