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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.

Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Does a net worth of $5,000 make an individual richer than half of the global population?

Friday, January 14, 2022

By Jacob Alabab-Moser

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YES

Wealth equivalent to more than $4,100 places an individual in the richer half of the world's population.

The poorer 50% of the planet's inhabitants own an average of $4,100 in assets, according to 2021 data from the World Inequality Lab. The bottom 50% account for just 2% of total global wealth.

In comparison, the top 10% owns more than three-quarters (76%) of global wealth, with an average net worth of $771,000.

While the wealth of the top 10% is growing more slowly than the global average, the wealth of the top 1% is growing much more rapidly, capturing "38% of all additional wealth accumulated since the mid-1990s," the organization says. The wealth of the top 0.1% rose from 7% to 11% of the total over the same period, with particularly steep gains for billionaires, according to the report.

Wealth differences between adults have continued to widen during the pandemic, both overall in the world and in most individual countries.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

World Inequality Lab World Inequality Report 2022

Credit Suisse Global wealth reports 2010, 2018, and 2021

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR

Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.