85 richest have more than what 3.5 billion own

New York: The 85 richest people globally have as much wealth as the 3.5 billion poorest in the world, the United Nations said, citing Oxfam figures, in a report that highlights ways to help the 1.2 billion people who live on less than $1.25 a day.

 

The UN’s annual Human Development Report notes that overall poverty is declining throughout the world, but says worsening inequality risks reversing the trend to improvements in life span and income.

 

Canada placed No. 8 on the UN Human Development Index, a measure based on education, income, health and other measures of human well-being. It is among the group of nations considered to have a very good record on human development, with Norway at the top of the list.

 

That is better than 2013, when Canada placed 11th, after making the top of the list in the 1990s. Among the nations considered to have very poor human development are Niger, Congo, Mali, Haiti and Nepal. 

 

Nearly one-third of people are poor or vulnerable to poverty, meaning they are not resilient in the face of natural or human-induced disasters and can slip further behind, according to the report.