In November 2025, the Group of 20(G20) Extraordinary Committee of Independent Experts on Global Inequality under South Africa’s Presidency, published the first-ever report on inequality, titled “G20 Global Inequality Report 2025”.This report revealed , India’s wealthiest 1% experienced a 62% increase in their wealth, since 2000.
Exam Hints:
- Report: Release of first-ever report on inequality
- Released by: G20 Extraordinary Committee of Independent Experts on Global Inequality
- Committee Chaired by: Professor Joseph Stiglitz
- India: Top 1% saw wealth surge by 62% since 2000
- Income Inequality: 83% of countries have income inequality; Global gini coefficient – 0.61
- Wealth Inequality: 1% captured 41% of new wealth
- Others: 2.3 bn face food insecurity
- IPI: To track inequality and guide global policy.
Key Highlights of G20 Report:
Report: The report, compiled by the G20 Extraordinary Committee of Independent Experts on Global Inequality led by Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, examines patterns of income and wealth disparities worldwide.
Income Inequality: Nationally, 83% of countries have high income inequality (i.e., a Gini coefficient above 0.4), accounting for 90% of the world’s population.
- Though globally, the Income Inequality in the world has fallen since 2000, mainly due to economic development in China, it still remains very high, with a Gini coefficient of 0.61.
- The bottom 50% of the world’s population has seen their average real income increase by USD 358 over the last 40 years, while the income of the richest 1% has increased by USD 191,000 over the same period.
Wealth Inequality: Between 2000 and 2024, the richest 1% captured 41% of all new wealth, in contrast to just 1% being captured by the bottom 50%.
- Between 2000 and 2023, the richest 1% increased their share of the wealth in over half of all countries, which contain 74% of the global.
Other dimensions of Inequality: Countries with high inequality are seven times more likely to experience democratic decline than more equal countries.
- 2.3 billion (bn) people face moderate or severe food insecurity, up by 335 million (mn) since 2019.
- Half the world’s population is still not covered by essential health services, with 1.3 bn people impoverished by out-of-pocket health spending.
Panel Proposal
Addressing Inequality: To combat the crisis, experts recommended creating an International Panel on Inequality (IPI), modeled after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to track inequality and guide global policy.
- The panel would provide governments with “authoritative and accessible” data on inequality and its drivers.
Risk: The report warned that countries with high inequality are seven times more likely to face a decline in democratic stability.
About G20:
G20 is a premier forum for international economic cooperation, bringing together 19 countries and two regional bodies: the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU).
2025 Presidency – South Africa (December 2024 to November 2025)
