A recent report by the anti-poverty charity Oxfam has found that the wealthiest 1% will soon own more than half of the world's population. According to The Guardian, the charity's research shows that the share of the world's wealth owned by the best-off 1% has increased from 44% in 2009 to 48% in 2014.

On the other hand, the least well-off 80% currently own just 5.5%. If current trends continue, the richest 1% would own more than 50% of the world's wealth by 2016.

BBC reports that Oxfam's research - which was published this Monday - coincides with the start of the World Economic Forum in Davos. The annual gathering attracts top businessmen and politicians from around the world, and Oxfam hopes to use its high-profile role to demand urgent action to narrow the gap between the rich and poor.

Oxfam executive director Winnie Byanyima stated, "It is time our leaders took on the powerful vested interests that stand in the way of a fairer and more prosperous world."

She continued, "Business as usual for the elite isn't a cost-free option - failure to tackle inequality will set the fight against poverty back decades. The poor are hurt twice by rising inequality - they get a smaller share of the economic pie and because extreme inequality hurts growth, there is less pie to be shared around."

In an interview with The Guardian, she further stated, "Do we really want to live in a world where the 1% own more than the rest of us combined? The scale of global inequality is quite simply staggering and despite the issues shooting up the global agenda, the gap between the richest and the rest is widening fast."

However, not everyone thinks the wealth gap is as extreme as Oxfam claims. BBC reports that Oxfam based its prediction on data from the annual Credit Suisse Global Wealth datebook, which gives the distribution of global wealth going back to 2000.

Anthony Reuben, BBC's head of statistics, stated, "From 2000 until 2009, the proportion of wealth held by the wealthiest 1% fell every year. From 2010 until 2014 it rose every year. Oxfam has taken the figures since 2010 and used them to extrapolate what will happen in the coming years. Clearly, that is the methodology that will make inequality look the most severe."

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