The globe's leaders and the business elite are in Davos for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. Credit:Bloomberg

The study found that the richest eight people on the planet have net wealth of $US426 billion ($569.6 billion) -- equivalent to what's held by the bottom half of the world's population.

"From Nigeria to Bangladesh, from the UK to Brazil, people are fed up with feeling ignored by their political leaders, and millions are mobilising to push for change," British-based Oxfam, an international poverty-fighting group, said in a statement. "Seven out of 10 people live in a country that has seen a rise in inequality in the last 30 years."

The study is the latest in recent years by Oxfam to campaign for ways to reduce the growing gap between the rich and poor. Oxfam called on President-elect Donald Trump, world leaders and the international business community to "take urgent action to reduce inequality and the extreme concentration of wealth by ensuring that workers are paid a decent (salary) and by increasing taxes on both wealth and high incomes."

"It is mind-boggling that just eight men own as much wealth as the poorest half of the world's population, but that's the sobering reality of 2017," said Paul O' Brien, Oxfam America's vice president for policy and campaigns. "Such dramatic inequality is trapping millions in poverty, fracturing our societies and poisoning our politics."