Wealth of India’s top 1% increased by 62% since 2000: G20 report

India’s richest 1% saw their wealth expand by 62% between 2000 and 2023, according to a report commissioned by the South African Presidency of the G20.

The study led by Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz warns that global inequality has reached “emergency” levels, threatening democracy, economic stability and climate progress.

The G20 Extraordinary Committee of Independent Experts on Global Inequality, including economists Jayati Ghosh, Winnie Byanyima and Imran Valodia, found that the top 1% globally captured 41% of all new wealth created between 2000 and 2024, while the bottom half of humanity received only 1%.

The report said broadly measured intercountry inequality has declined due to increases in per capita income in some highly populated countries such as China and India, which has somewhat reduced the share of high-income countries in global GDP.

The report said that between 2000 and 2023, the richest 1% increased their share of wealth in more than half of the countries, including a global 74%.

“In India, the top 1% increased their wealth by 62% over this period (2000-2023); in China the figure is 54%,” the report said.

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It said, “Extreme inequality is a choice. It is not inevitable and can be reversed with political will. This can be facilitated to a great extent by global coordination and the G20 has an important role in this regard.”

The report proposes the creation of an International Inequality Panel (IPI), based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to monitor global trends and guide policy making.

The body, to be launched under the South African G20 presidency, will provide governments with “authoritative and accessible” data on inequality and its drivers.

The report said countries with greater inequality are seven times more likely to suffer democratic decline than more equal countries.

“Since 2020, global poverty reduction has almost slowed and in some regions has reversed. 2.3 billion people face moderate or severe food insecurity, up by 335 million since 2019. 26 and a half of the world’s population is still not covered by essential health services, leaving 1.3 billion people in poverty due to out-of-pocket health expenses,” the report said.