Thailand third most unequal country in world
Russia is the world’s most unequal country, with 74.5 per cent of the country's wealth controlled by 1 per cent of the people.
India is next at 58.4% and then Thailand is the third most unequal country in the world at 58%.
Wealth has grown quite a lot in Thailand despite the great inequality, from an average of $3350 in 2000 to $8391 in 2016 (see table at the bottom of the page).
Indonesia and Brazil followed with about 50% of the wealth controlled by the top 1%
GROWING INEQUALITY WORLDWIDE
Worldwide there was a trend of growing equality up until the 2008 crisis but the world has been becoming more and more unequal since that crisis Asia-Pacific wealth is now greater than North American wealth for the first time in history.
Stronger economies and booming real estate markets were the drivers behind this wealth increase.
Total global wealth rose 4% percent to $58.7 trillion with European wealth rising 4.8 percent to $13.6 trillion.
The wealth of Latin America and Africa both fell.
A whopping
1.1 billion adults in Africa or India fall into the bottom 50% of global wealth.
Together, Africa, India, and the Asia-Pacific account for 72% of the bottom billion by wealth.
WEALTH BUILDING
Japan and the U.S lead the world in wealth-building.
Brexit, the British decision to leave the EU, caused the British pound and British wealth to fall significantly.
In Southeast Asia, Singapore still leads the pack but has fallen a little: "Personal wealth per adult grew strongly in Singapore up to 2012. Since then, however, it has risen only slowly in domestic currency
units, and declined a little in terms of US dollars (USD). Despite this drop, average wealth remains
at a high level – USD 276,900 per adult in mid-2016, compared to USD 112,800 in 2000."
Indonesia has also been doing well: "Indonesia recovered well from the 1997 – 1998 Asian financial crisis, and in rupiah, wealth per adult has risen six-fold over the 2000 – 2016 period as a whole. Seen in domestic currency terms, the global financial crisis had little effect on wealth, and net worth
has risen fairly smoothly since 2008, at an average annual rate of 5.9%. However, exchange rate depreciation totaling 46% since 2011 has caused wealth per adult to decline in USD terms. Despite this setback, wealth per adult in USD has quadrupled since the year 2000."