On 4 November 2025, the Extraordinary Committee of Independent Experts on Global Inequality, chaired by Nobel Prize-winning economist Professor Joseph Stiglitz, released the first-ever report on inequality to the G20.
The report was commissioned by President Cyril Ramaphosa for South Africa’s Presidency of the G20 and involved consultations with leading economists and inequality experts worldwide.
The report provides a depressing but practical summary of the trends in global inequality, their underlying causes, and the pressing need for systemic change. The study emphasises that inequality is a policy decision rather than a natural by-product of progress, since more than 90 percent of the world’s population lives in nations with substantial income disparity.
A world divided: The state of global inequality
The Extraordinary Committee of Independent Experts on Global Inequality report opens with a sobering overview of the state of the world. Eighty-three percent (83 percent) of the nations have a Gini coefficient above 0.4 as of 2025, which is regarded as a sign of significant economic inequality. This means that almost 90 percent of people on the planet live in situations where there is a large income gap.
Despite a little decrease in worldwide income inequality since 2000, mostly as a result of China’s explosive economic expansion, the total Gini index is still dangerously high at 0.61.
But the narrative of wealth disparity is far more alarming. Only 1 percent of newly created wealth went to the bottom half of the world’s population between 2000 and 2024, while 41 percent went to the top 1 percent. Economic stability, social cohesiveness, and democratic governance are all significantly impacted by this wealth concentration.
The human cost: Food insecurity and social exclusion
Food insecurity is among the most obvious effects of inequality. Nearly one-third of the world’s population, or 2.3 billion people, are food insecure, according to the report.
This number has increased by 335 million since 2019. A number of variables, including the Covid-19 epidemic, geopolitical events like the war in Ukraine, and disturbances brought on by the climate, are responsible for this surge.
Communities that are marginalised bear a disproportionate amount of the burden, which exacerbates cycles of poverty and exclusion.
Root causes: Policy choices and structural forces
The report highlights that inequality is mostly caused by intentional policy choices, refuting the idea that it is an unavoidable consequence of economic growth.
Globalisation, technical advancement, and urbanisation are examples of structural forces that have contributed, but decisions that prioritise capital over labour have increased their impact.
The key drivers include:
- Deregulation and market concentration have given businesses the ability to stifle wages and gain power.
- Weakening of labour laws, which results in unstable work and stagnating earnings/stagnant income.
- Tax policy shifts, with many countries moving away from progressive taxation toward regressive systems like value-added taxes (VAT).
- Privatisation of public services has reduced access to essential goods like education and healthcare for low-income populations.
The middle class, which is a pillar of democratic nations, has been undermined by these tendencies, in addition to widening the wealth gap between the rich and poor.
The ripple effects: Economic, political and global risks
Inequality has far-reaching effects that go well beyond personal suffering. In terms of the economy, it reduces innovation, hampers productivity, and increases financial instability.
The economy misses out on potential growth when sizeable portions of the population cannot afford to invest in entrepreneurship, healthcare, or education.
Politically, inequality undermines democratic institutions. The report states thus: “Across the world, large corporations and rich elites wield influence and sometimes even determine laws, regulations and monetary and fiscal policies in ways that favour them. This has been reflected in a series of economic policies that have been implemented in most countries of the world over the last three decades….”
The report warns that the stability of international relations and governmental legitimacy are at risk due to these dynamics.
Globally, existential risks like pandemics and climate change are made worse by inequality. Poor communities are disproportionately impacted by global crises because they have less access to healthcare and are more susceptible to environmental degradation. This presents practical risks to international cooperation and resilience in addition to ethical ones.
A path forward: The International Panel on Inequality (IPI)
The establishment of an International Panel on Inequality (IPI), based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is arguably the report’s most ambitious suggestion (IPCC).
As a technical and independent organisation, the IPI would be entrusted with tracking trends in inequality, assessing the effects of policies, and offering authoritative direction to governments and multilateral organisations.
Key features of the IPI would include:
- Global inclusivity, ensuring representation from diverse geographical regions and perspectives.
- Interdisciplinary expertise, drawing from economics, sociology, public health and environmental science.
- Policy relevance, with a focus on actionable recommendations tailored to national contexts.
- Transparency and independence, to maintain credibility and avoid political interference.
Working groups and a small secretariat would run the IPI, which would also keep a centralised data repository and generate reports regularly.
Its objective would be to make inequality as urgent and coordinated globally as climate change.
India and world wealth concentration
Between 2000 and 2023, the wealthiest 1 percent in India increased by 62 percent, while the same percentage in China increased by 54 percent. According to the report, there have been significant increases in the United States since 1980, with the wealthiest 1 percent now controlling 50 percent more of the country’s total wealth.
Therefore, it is not shocking that there are now more than 3,000 US dollar billionaires in the globe, which is a huge rise from the 2.5 percent of global GDP in 1990.
Currently, their wealth represents 14.1 percent of global GDP. Current trends indicate that the world will see its first trillionaire in less than a decade.
The increase in food insecurity that occurred globally after 2019, incidentally, contrasts sharply with this tendency.
Recommendations for G20 action
The report outlines several immediate steps that G20 countries can take to address inequality:
- Strengthen labour protections and promote collective bargaining to ensure fair wages.
- Reform tax systems to increase progressivity and reduce reliance on regressive taxes.
- Invest in public services, particularly education, healthcare and social safety nets.
- Regulate market concentration, especially in digital and financial sectors.
- Support global cooperation, including debt relief and climate finance for developing countries.
These actions are not only economically sound but also morally right.
Inequality reduction can increase social stability, stimulate innovation and increase aggregate demand, the report adds, in conclusion.
Conclusion: A Defining Challenge of Our Time
The G20 Global Inequality Report 2025 serves as a transformation roadmap in addition to a diagnostic. It presents inequality as a modifiable result of policy decisions, challenging the idea that it is an inevitable by-product of progress. By proposing the IPI and laying forth specific reform actions, the report presents a vision of a more inclusive, resilient and equitable world.
When South Africa leads the G20, the question is not whether inequality can be addressed, but rather whether there is the political will to do so. In the words of Joseph Stiglitz, “Inequality is not just an economic issue—it is a moral and political one. And it is time we treated it as such.” The stakes are high; at the same time, there is also a potential for transformative change.
