Top 10% own two-thirds of India's wealth, bottom 50% hold 6.4%: Report

The report edited by economists Lucas Chancel, Ricardo Gómez-Carrera, Rowaida Moshrif, and Thomas Piketty shows that the top 1 per cent Indians hold about 40 per cent of the country's wealth

Inequality in wealth distribution in India remains among the highest in the world, with the richest 10 per cent cornering around 65 per cent of it and the bottom 50 per cent holding a meagre 6.4 per cent, according to the latest World Inequality Report, released on Wednesday.

 

The report, edited by economists Lucas Chancel, Ricardo Gómez-Carrera, Rowaida Moshrif, and Thomas Piketty, shows that the top 1 per cent of Indians hold about 40 per cent of the country’s wealth.

 

In income inequality, the report notes the top 10 per cent capture 58 per cent of national income while the bottom 50 per cent receive only 15 per cent.

 

“Overall, inequality in India remains deeply entrenched across income, wealth, and gender dimensions, highlighting persistent structural divides within the economy.”

 

The report notes between 2014 and 2024 the income gap “between top 10 per cent and bottom 50 per cent” rose marginally to 38.2 per cent from 38 per cent.

 

It shows average annual income per capita in India is around 6,200 euros (purchasing power parity, or PPP) and average wealth stands at about 28,000 euros (PPP), while female labour participation remains low at 15.7 per cent — showing no improvement over the past decade.

 

Taking a historical perspective, the report notes a larger part of India’s population was in the middle 40 per cent of the national income share in 1980, but today almost all are in the bottom 50 per cent.

 

At a global level, the report noted that “wealth has reached historic highs but remains very unevenly distributed”, and calls for urgent action.

 

It notes fewer than 60,000 people — 0.001 per cent of the world’s population — control three times as much wealth as the bottom half of humanity.

 

The share of personal wealth held by the 0.001 per cent rose from around 3.8 per cent of all wealth in 1995 to nearly 6.1 per cent in 2025. 

 

However, after a very slight increase, the share of wealth owned by the poorest half of the population has stagnated since the early 2000s at around 2 per cent.

 

“The result is a world in which a tiny minority commands unprecedented financial power, while billions remain excluded from even basic economic stability,” the report noted.

 

Highlighting the role of capital ownership in the unevenness of carbon emission, the report notes the poorest half of the global population accounts for only 3 per cent of emission associated with private-capital ownership, while the top 10 per cent account for 77 per cent of emission.

 

“Wealthy individuals fuel the climate crisis through their investments even more than their consumption and lifestyles,” the report said.

 

The World Inequality Report 2026, the third report in the series after earlier 2018 and 2022 editions, is based on the work of over 200 scholars affiliated with the World Inequality Lab.