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Why Most People Are Dead Wrong About Global Wealth (The Numbers Will Shock You)
Two simple questions reveal how badly we misunderstand our world
Max Petrusenko, 06/24/25
請至原網頁查看全球財富分佈圖(依80%與0.1%所在地區)
誰掌握更多全球財富，底層80%，還是頂級0.1%？
I’m about to share two questions that only 2% of people get right. Before we dive into the wild journey from $2-a-day farmers to Elon Musk’s $400 billion empire, try answering these:
請至原網頁查看全球國家列表
Question 1: Where does the majority of the world population live?
* A) Low income countries
* B) Middle income countries
* C) High income countries
Question 2: Since 2000, has global wealth inequality:
* A) Increased
* B) Stayed the same
* C) Decreased
Hold onto those answers. By the end of this piece, you’ll discover why most of us are completely wrong about how wealth actually works in our world.
The $1.80 Reality That Redefines Poverty
Let’s start at the bottom of the global wealth pyramid with a family in Burundi (蒲隆地，位於東非), where the median wage is $1.80 per day. (median wage：「中位數工資」；一半人的工資在此數值之上，一半人的工資在此數值之下；非「平均工資」。)
Picture this: A mother with four children living in a mud brick house with no electricity. Their bed is made of straw. Their toilet is a hole in the ground. For water, they walk to natural sources and carry it back home in containers.
This family survives on 90 cents per day total income. When darkness falls, they light fires not just for cooking, but because that’s their only source of light.
Here’s what shocked me most: This represents how 3.6% of the world’s population lives. That’s 288 million people existing in conditions that would be unimaginable to most readers of this article.
But here’s where it gets interesting.
The Bangladesh Revelation That Changed Everything
Moving up the wealth ladder, we reach Bangladesh with a median income of $4.78 per day. The transformation is remarkable.
This Bangladeshi family of five lives in a house with a metal roof, actual beds, and access to a pipe well for water. They have a toilet, electricity (like 99% of Bangladeshi households), and basic phones.
Wait for it — here’s the mind-bender: Some aspects of Bangladesh today are more developed than Portugal was in 1970. Back then, only 64% of Portuguese households had electricity.
Let that sink in. Countries we consider “poor” today have infrastructure that wealthy European nations lacked just 50 years ago.
This reveals something profound about our perception of global development. We’re not just measuring wealth wrong — we’re measuring progress wrong.
The Middle-Income Surprise Nobody Saw Coming
Here’s where most people get the first question catastrophically wrong.
If you answered that most of the world lives in low-income countries, you’re thinking like 73% of people. But you’re incorrect.
The correct answer to Question 1 is B) Middle-income countries.
The majority of the world’s population lives in middle-income countries.
This isn’t some statistical trick. It represents one of the most dramatic transformations in human history. In 2000, 29% of people lived in extreme poverty. Today, that’s dropped to less than 10%.
In a single generation, billions of people transitioned out of poverty while most of us weren’t paying attention.
The Indonesian Digital Leap
By the time we reach Indonesia’s $6-per-day median wage, the world looks radically different.
Most families now live in urban areas, not rural ones. Economic development drives this migration from countryside to cities. This family of four has a bathroom, kitchen, bedrooms, and amenities we didn’t see in lower tiers.
Motorbikes zip through streets as common transportation. Most importantly, people have internet access and smartphones.
Think about what this means: A family earning $6 per day has better communication technology than the richest person in the world had 30 years ago. This leapfrogging in technology access, even at relatively lower income levels, is a key part of the global convergence story that many miss.
The Brazilian Affluence Shift
At Brazil’s $17-per-day median wage, we cross a fascinating threshold.
For the first time, fertility rates drop below replacement level to 1.6 children per woman. Wealthier countries consistently show this pattern — more wealth, fewer children. This demographic transition signals a fundamental shift in how societies develop.
Here’s an unexpected twist: More Brazilians now die from obesity than undernutrition. As countries develop, obesity rates increase alongside wealth — a pattern repeated across emerging economies.
Cars and computers become common at this income level. Brazil sits above the global average but remains far from the world’s richest countries. Yet this tier represents where consumption patterns start resembling what we consider “modern” lifestyle.
The Spanish Privilege of Movement
Spain, with its $41-per-day median income, reveals another hidden layer of global inequality: travel freedom.
Spanish citizens can visit 189 countries visa-free. This freedom correlates directly with your country’s income level. Lower-income countries have severely restricted travel options.
Your passport’s power depends entirely on the wealth of the nation you happened to be born in. Geography becomes destiny in ways most people never consider. This “mobility privilege” represents yet another dimension of global inequality that’s invisible to those who possess it.
The American Income Paradox
The United States, with a $62-per-day median wage, houses a shocking statistic about relative global wealth.
Here’s the key distinction: While the median American earns about $23,000 annually, the top earners push 11–12% of Americans into the global top 1% by income — and most don’t realize it.
Americans tend toward bigger houses, bigger cars, and more consumption generally. But here’s the critical insight — even within wealthy countries, enormous inequality exists. The median wage tells one story, but wealth concentration tells another.
Looking at averages obscures the full picture. Inside every country bubble live both rich and poor people. This is why Americans can simultaneously feel financially stressed while being globally privileged.
The Inequality Within Inequality
When we examine wealth distribution within countries, the numbers become staggering.
In the United States, the top 10% earn 47% of all income. But South Africa takes the inequality crown — their top 10% captures 65% of income.
Switching from income to wealth makes inequality even more extreme. South Africa’s top 10% control 86% of total wealth, while the Netherlands’ top 10% own “only” 45%.
In America, the top 10% owned 71% of wealth in 2021 — significantly more than 25 years earlier. This pattern repeats across the world’s top 10 economies.
The Global 1% Club
With $1 million in wealth, you join the global 1% — all 82 million members who control 38% of world wealth.
This might mean $1 million in your bank account, or simply owning an expensive house in the right location.
The top 0.01% starts at $21 million in wealth. These 800,000 people own 11% of global wealth. About 30% of this group uses private jets — roughly 0.003% of the world’s population.
Then we reach the billionaire tier: 3,000 people controlling 3% of global wealth.
The Elon Musk Money Machine
At the pyramid’s peak sits Elon Musk with nearly $400 billion in net worth.
Between 2020 and 2024, his wealth grew at $1,300 per second. At that rate, a $100 bill on the sidewalk literally isn’t worth his time to pick up.
But here’s where the story takes an unexpected turn.
The Global Inequality Plot Twist
Remember question two about whether global inequality has increased since 2000?
Most people answer “yes,” and logically so. We’ve witnessed billionaire wealth explosions and rising inequality within countries.
But the correct answer is C) Decreased.
Global inequality has actually fallen since 2000.
How is this possible?
While inequality within countries increased, inequality between countries decreased dramatically. Developing nations are catching up to wealthy ones.
The global top 10% now own 74% of wealth — less than in 2000. The bottom 50% own 2.1% of wealth — not much, but higher than before.
The 1990 Time Machine
In 1990, our wealth bubble chart showed massive gaps between rich and poor countries. Nearly 40% of people lived in low-income nations.
As years passed, billions climbed out of poverty. Now most of the world lives in middle-income countries.
This doesn’t mean people aren’t struggling or that rising domestic inequality isn’t concerning. But it means we should acknowledge unprecedented global progress.
Why We Get Everything Wrong
Most people, myself included, fail these wealth questions because we lack an accurate picture of our world.
Our focus on domestic inequality stories and sensational billionaire wealth often blinds us to the monumental story of global convergence and billions escaping poverty.
Our mental models of global wealth distribution remain frozen in outdated realities.
The Three Key Takeaways
First: The majority of humanity lives in middle-income countries, not the extremes we imagine.
Second: Global inequality is decreasing as developing nations catch up, even as domestic inequality increases within countries.
Third: Your wealth perception depends entirely on your reference frame — local versus global, income versus wealth, current versus historical.
The next time someone discusses global inequality, remember this journey from Burundi’s $1.80 daily reality to Musk’s $400 billion empire. The story isn’t just about the extremes — it’s about the billions moving up in between.
Understanding true global wealth distribution changes how you see both poverty and privilege. Most importantly, it reveals that dramatic positive change happens constantly, even when we’re not paying attention.
The world is simultaneously more unequal and more equal than you think — depending on which lens you choose to use.
Max Petrusenko works remotely in the software development industry and travels the world to stay in touch with the latest trends. His Cryptobase newsletter provides insightful actions needed to be taken by thoughtful people in this fast and crazy environment. He is also researching topics of spirituality and mysticism and brings them to the mainstream. Join people who follow him on Medium, Twitter, and Substack.
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