WORLD'S 85 RICHEST HAVE AS MUCH MONEY AS 3.5BILLION POOREST PEOPLE PUT TOGETHER

BILLIONAIRES - BUFFET & BILL GATES

 The 85 richest people in the world now have as much money as the 3.5billion poorest put together. The combined wealth of people including Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and the Koch Brothers has increased to £1trillion. And the top one per cent of earners are worth £67.3trillion - almost half (46 per cent) of the world's wealth, according to a report by Oxfam.

Critics claim the surge in inequality has been driven by 'power grabbing' wealthy elites who harbour close relationships with leading politicians.

Winnie Byanyima, chief executive of Oxfam, said: 'It is staggering that in the 21st century, half of the world’s population - that’s three and a half billion people - own no more than a tiny elite whose numbers could all fit comfortably on a double-decker bus.

CARLOS SLIM HELU - WORLD'S RICHEST MAN

She added: 'In too many countries economic growth already amounts to little more than a ‘winner takes all’ windfall for the richest.' The world now has 1,426 billionaires with a combined wealth of £3.3trillion, and 12million millionaires, the report found.

The number of US millionaires has increased to 3.7million - up 11.5 per cent on last year - while the UK has an estimated 345,271 net millionaire households - up 12.6 per cent. The findings come as David Cameron and other world leaders fly to Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economics Forum, attended by some of the most influential businesses.

Oxfam said the focus of the exclusive gathering which includes more than 2,500 business leaders, heads of state and other powerful figures – must be the ‘extreme economic inequality’ which is ‘undermining social stability and threatening global security’.

Ms Byanyima said: 'We cannot hope to win the fight against poverty without tackling inequality. Widening inequality is creating a vicious circle where wealth and power are increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few, leaving the rest of us to fight over crumbs from the top table.

'In developed and developing countries alike we are increasingly living in a world where the lowest tax rates, the best health and education and the opportunity to influence are being given not just to the rich but also to their children.

'Without a concerted effort to tackle inequality, the cascade of privilege and of disadvantage will continue down the generations. We will soon live in a world where equality of opportunity is just a dream.' 

Since the late 1970s, tax rates for the richest have fallen in 29 out of 30 countries for which data are available, said the report.

Opinion polls in Spain, Brazil, India, South Africa, the US, UK and Netherlands found that a majority in each country believe that wealthy people exert too much influence.

Concern was strongest in Spain, followed by Brazil and India and least marked in the Netherlands.

In the UK, some 67 per cent agreed that 'the rich have too much influence over where this country is headed' - 37 per cent saying that they agreed 'strongly' with the statement.

Just 10 per cent who disagreed, 2 per cent of them strongly.

The WEF’s own Global Risks report recently identified widening income disparities as one of the biggest threats to the world community.