The United Nations published a statement that 2% of the world’s population has more than half the world’s wealth, whereas half the world’s population has only 1% of
the world’s wealth. In 2013, the world’s population reached 7 100 000 people, while the world’s total wealth reached $231 trillion. Analyze the United Nations’ announcement in context.
To analyze the United Nations' announcement in context, we need to break down the information provided and understand the implications of the numbers given.
1. 2% of the world's population has more than half the world's wealth:
- This means that out of the 7.1 billion people in the world, 2% of them possess more than half of the total wealth.
- To calculate the number of people in this 2%, we can multiply the world's population (7,100,000,000) by 2% (0.02):
7,100,000,000 * 0.02 = 142,000,000 people
2. Half the world’s population has only 1% of the world’s wealth:
- This implies that the remaining 50% of the global population share just 1% of the total wealth.
- To calculate the number of people in this 50%, we divide the world's population by two:
7,100,000,000 / 2 = 3,550,000,000 people
3. World's total wealth in 2013 reached $231 trillion:
- This figure signifies the overall amount of wealth across the globe in the specific year mentioned.
By analyzing these numbers, we can draw several conclusions:
- The concentration of wealth is heavily skewed, with a small percentage of the population having a disproportionately large portion of wealth.
- The 2% of the population, which represents approximately 142 million people, possess over 50% of the $231 trillion total wealth.
- The remaining 50% of the population, which accounts for around 3.55 billion people, share just 1% of the total wealth.
This announcement highlights the significant wealth inequality present globally and emphasizes the need for addressing this disparity to strive for a more balanced distribution of wealth.