Korean media: In India, the top 1% own 41% of the wealth!

On December 8, the Korean media "Korea Trade Daily" published an article stating that a report by the Korea Trade Association's New Delhi branch shows that over the past 20 years, the share of wealth of the top 1% in the G20 has increased by an average of 45%, while India's increase reached as high as 62%, indicating that the accumulation of wealth by a small upper class is faster in India.

As of 2023, the top 1% of India's population owns 41% of the wealth, higher than the United States (35%), China (30%), and France (23%).

India's economic growth is concentrated in urban areas and capital-intensive industries, while the share of rural and labor-intensive industries is rated below the G20 average.

Notably, the high school enrollment rate in rural India is only 27% (62% in urban areas), which is very unfavorable for employment.

Therefore, more than 45% of India's rural adults migrate to cities in search of work, leading to housing shortages and an increase in informal employment, exacerbating wealth inequality.

G20 said, "If the concentration of wealth in India continues at the current rate, the likelihood of decline in democracy, capitalism, and other aspects of the current system in India is seven times higher than that of other G20 countries."

Wealth inequality has worsened the access to healthcare and nutritional status of the poor. The bottom 20% of India's population spends less than 120 rupees (about 9.6 RMB) per month on healthcare, while the top 20% spends more than 1200 rupees per month.

India spends an average of 4% of its GDP annually on preventing malnutrition and diseases, and its labor productivity is significantly lower than that of other G20 countries.

Experts emphasize that India needs to quickly reform property tax and inheritance tax, invest heavily in education and healthcare, and establish a real-time financial asset tracking system for high-net-worth individuals.

Original: toutiao.com/article/1850902431267843/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.