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Last Updated: Tuesday, 5 December 2006, 17:21 GMT
Richest 2% own 'half the wealth'
By Andrew Walker
Economics correspondent, BBC World Service



There have of course been many studies of worldwide inequality.




Different assets

The analysis shows, as have many other less comprehensive studies, striking divergences in wealth between countries.


Golfer hitting a ball
In richer nations, landowners can afford not to farm their properties

These countries account for 90% of household wealth.


And it uncovers some striking differences in the types of assets that dominate in different countries.


In addition, the report says the weighting is the result of "immature" financial institutions, which make it much harder for people to have savings accounts or shares.

In contrast, some citizens of the rich countries have more debt than assets - making them, the report says, among the poorest in the world in terms of household wealth.

However, they are presumably better off in terms of what they consume than many people in developing countries.


The survey is based on data for the year 2000. The authors say a more recent year would have involved more gaps in the data. As it is, many figures - especially for developing countries - have had to be estimated.

Small child eating a plate of food
Many the world's poorer children will have very little to look forward to


Why does it matter? Because wealth serves as insurance against times when income tends to fall, such as unemployment, sickness or old age.

It is also a source of finance for small businesses, a particularly important point since it is the countries with lower levels of personal wealth which also tend to have weaker financial systems without the funds, ability or inclination to lend to small firms.

The report is not about policy recommendations.

But one of the authors, Professor Anthony Shorrocks, says it does draw attention to the importance of enhancing banking systems in developing countries to help generate the funds for business investment.

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