By Katie Simmons, Special to CNN

Editor’s note: Katie Simmons is a research associate with the Pew Research Center. The views expressed are her own.

Income inequality has been growing at an increasingly rapid pace. And publics around the world – and especially in Europe – are taking note.

Inequality in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries increased more over the first three years of the global downturn than in the previous 12 years combined, according to a recent report by the group. And large majorities believe that their particular nation’s economic system favors the wealthy, according to a new 39-country survey by the Pew Research Center, with many in major eurozone countries expressing alarm over these trends.

The poll – which spanned the Americas, Europe, Asia/Pacific, the Middle East and Africa – found that clear majorities in 31 of the 39 nations surveyed said the wealth gap in their country has gotten worse over the past five years. Europeans are especially likely to think inequality has increased, including about nine in ten in Spain (90 percent), Germany (88 percent), Greece (88 percent) and Italy (88 percent). Latin American publics, meanwhile, are the least likely to say the income gap has worsened in their nation, with roughly half or less in most of these countries believing inequality has risen. (And they may have good reason – a 2013 World Bank report found that economic inequality actually declined in most countries in the region between 2000 and 2010).

Regardless, most publics around the world believe the gap between the rich and the poor is currently a very big problem in their country. At least half of those surveyed in 31 of the 39 countries are extremely concerned about inequality, with more than 80 percent of Lebanese, Pakistanis, Greeks, Tunisians and Ghanaians saying they are particularly worried about the wealth gap.

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Meanwhile, large numbers around the world believe the economic deck is stacked against them, with clear majorities in 34 countries saying their nation’s economic system favors the wealthy, including more than nine-in-ten in Greece and Ghana. Only three countries saw at least half of the public say the economic system is fair to most people – Malaysia (56 percent), Venezuela (53 percent) and Australia (51 percent).

But while concern about inequality is widespread, the burden of the global recession is not equally shared. The OECD report, for example, notes that the poor have suffered the most in the recent crisis, a point borne out by the Pew Research data, which finds that while many say their personal finances are in good shape despite grim national economic conditions, those lower down the socioeconomic ladder are more likely than others to say they are suffering.

France is a good example – 47 percent of people without a college education say their personal economic situation is bad, compared with 24 percent of those with a college degree. The pattern is the same using a range of measures, whether it be income, education, or reported inability to afford basic necessities: the have-nots are at least 10 percentage points more likely than the haves in most countries to say their personal finances are faring poorly. In many nations, the gap is 20 points or higher.

And it is those who say their personal economic situation is bad that are especially likely to be concerned about income inequality. For example, Canadians who say they are suffering are 27 percentage points more likely than those who say they are doing well to think that inequality is a very big problem. Significant differences occur in 26 of the 39 countries surveyed. Similarly, those who say they are struggling are much more likely to think the current economic system is unfair in most nations. Among Americans, more than three quarters of those who say their personal situation is bad believe the economic system favors the wealthy, compared with just 55 percent who complain about the current system among those who say their personal finances are good.

There is at least one bright spot – the OECD finds that while the poor have fared especially badly in the recent economic crisis, this economic pain has been mitigated by the social safety net and government spending in many of the OECD nations. Yet even on this, the organization warns “that further social spending cuts in OECD countries risk causing greater inequality and poverty in the years ahead.”

How such a drop in social spending will impact attitudes among those who are struggling, and what that means for citizens’ policy demands in the future, remains to be seen. But the survey data is clear: those who are suffering economically are also extremely concerned about inequality and believe the economic system is stacked against them. Governments around the world should take note.