Concentration of Income in Brazil Is Higher Than in Many Rich Countries, According to Report

12/15/2017 - 11h11

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RICARDO BALTHAZAR

FROM SÃO PAULO

The concentration of income at the top of the social pyramid is higher in Brazil than in many rich countries, although it has been rising faster in China, Russia and India, according to a new global inequality report published on Thursday (13).

Conducted by a group of researchers led by French economist, Thomas Piketty, the report is based on conclusions from studies conducted in Brazil and other countries in the wake of the publication of " Capital in the Twenty-First Century", Piketty's bestseller.

The report states that the poorest half of the world's population has experienced significant income growth in the last three decades, however, an elite formed by 1% of the world's population holds the largest share of wealth created in the period.

The calculations of Piketty's group suggest that the share of the world's wealth held by the richest 1% has gone from 16% to 22% between 1980 and 2015, and the share divided among the poorest 50%, has gone from 8% to 10%.

Seeing income rose at both extremes, another effect of this process was a reduction of the share held by middle class, a phenomenon particularly affecting the United States and Europe, according to the report.

The studies on which the report is based rely on different statistics to depict a more complete portrait of income distribution than that offered by traditional research, usually fed by interviews in which people attempt to underestimate their own income.

Translated by ANA BEATRIZ DEMARIA

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