Around half of the world’s wealth is owned by just 1% of the world’s population, mostly in Europe, the USA and East Asia. In contrast, about half of the world’s population owns just 0.75% of the world’s wealth. The wealthiest people have an abundance of money and property, while those living in poverty lack the money needed for basic necessities such as food and shelter. Poorer regions are often affected by poor sanitation, disease and war. The gap between the rich and the poor seems to grow ever wider. Measured by the average income earned by people in the richest and poorest fifth of the world’s nations, the gap has grown from 30 to 1 in 1960 to nearly 80 to 1 today. Within wealthy countries there are people who live in poverty; equally, there are wealthy people who live in less prosperous countries.

Aid and debt

Wealthy nations give money and supplies to developing nations, countries which have a low income per person and poor health care, education and nutrition. Aid is given to help their long-term development, such as by building power stations or funding education. The largest foreign aid donor in 2020 was the United States, which gave $35.5 billion. After a natural disaster, such as floods, emergency aid—food, water and shelter—is sent.
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Shantytowns

South America has some of the fastest-growing cities in the world. They include the Brazilian supercities of São Paulo (population 21 million) and Rio de Janeiro (population 12 million). People from the countryside flock to these cities to find work, but there is nowhere for them to live. They build their own shantytowns, known locally as favelas, on the edge of the city by constructing shacks from any material that comes to hand. People who live in shantytowns cannot find work easily and so are forced to work for very low wages. Shantytowns also commonly surround large cities in Africa, the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.