World Inequality Report Finds Wealth Concentration Surging, Tax Burdens Plunging at the Very Top

Overview

• The top 10% now hold 75% of global wealth while the bottom half has 2%, with the share of the top 0.001% rising from 3.8% in 1995 to 6.1% in 2025.
• Effective tax rates climb across 99% of the population but drop sharply for billionaires and centimillionaires, who often pay proportionally less than middle‑income families.
• In Brazil, the top 10% control 70% of national wealth and the top 1% hold 37%, while the bottom 50% share just 2.4%, and the country fares worst among Brazil, France, the Netherlands, Spain and the United States in taxing the richest.
• Brazil’s Congress approved an income‑tax change that exempts monthly earnings up to R$5,000 and sets a minimum 10% rate for annual incomes from roughly R$600,000, with the full 10% applying only above R$1.2 million a year.
• The report models global wealth taxes that could raise large revenues, including an annual 3% levy on roughly 100,000 very large fortunes yielding about US$750 billion, with scenarios of 2% raising US$503 billion and 5% raising US$1.3 trillion.