Report of G20 Extraordinary Committee of Independent Experts on Global Inequality

FOCUS

The report discusses the status of global inequality and its various causes and effects. It notes that global inequality is on the rise, especially in light of various geopolitical occurrences in the last five to six years. The report makes a case for the establishment of an International Panel on Inequality.  

The report was authored by the G20 Extraordinary Committee of International Experts on Global Inequality, led by Joseph E. Stiglitz. He was joined by Adriana Abdenur, Winnie Byanyima, Jayati Ghosh, Imaraan Walodia, and Wange Zembe-Mkabile. It was commissioned by the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, as part of the G20 Extraordinary Committee for the South African G20 Presidency in 2025.

The report discusses the causes behind rising inequality, which is rooted in policy decisions and structural forces and exacerbated by events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. It examines the multidimensional nature of inequality, noting its existence across spheres such as the economic, political, educational, etc. 

It also examines the effects of this rise in inequality, noting its interactions with political, economical, and social outcomes. The adverse effects of inequality on the economy and economic performance interact with the political, eroding democracy and creating a polarised society. It also points out the link between global inequality and cross-border concerns such as climate change and public health. The report points out two overall factors that underlie existing public inequalities— the distribution of market incomes, and public policies affecting the redistribution of income. It also discusses the processes that resulted in the current sharp divide between the Global North and the Global South. 

Finally, the report proposes the formation of an International Panel on Inequality along the lines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, that would focus on data and analysis 

This 69-page document contains five chapters: The Scale of the Inequality Emergency (Chapter 1), Why Inequality Matters (Chapter 2), The Drivers of High Levels of Inequality (Chapter 3), Proposal for an International Panel on Inequality (Chapter 4), and New Blueprints to Reduce Inequality (Chapter 5). 

    FACTOIDS

  1. The report notes that 83 per cent of countries have a Gini coefficient higher than 0.4, which is the World Bank threshold for high income inequality. This information comes from data gathered by the World Inequality Database (WID), which combines data from different sources.

  2. A report by Oxfam International found that the richest 1 per cent of humanity are responsible for the same amount of carbon emissions as the bottom 66 per cent. The richest 10 per cent account for nearly half of total carbon emissions.

  3. Economic inequalities interact with and amplify other forms of inequality. The Kenyan National Bureau of Statistics found that in Kenya, a child from a rich family has just over a 1 in 2 chance of continuing their studies beyond secondary school. A girl from a rich family has only a slightly lower chance. On the other hand, a boy from a poor family has a 1 in 40 chance of the same, while a girl from a poor family has a 1 in 100 chance.

  4. The Industrial Revolution caused a sharp inequality between the countries of the ‘Global North’ and the rest of the world. Though the divergence has moderated to some extent and some redressal has been made for economic imbalances, global institutions still reflect this legacy. The authors calculated that an average Belgian citizen has 180 times more voting power in the World Bank than the average Ethiopian.

  5. In 2023, more new billionaires were created through inheritance than through internship. In the next thirty years, more than a thousand of today’s billionaires will transfer more than 5.2 trillion USD to their heirs.

  6. The World Bank claims that 2020-30 looks set to be a “lost decade” for poverty reduction. The COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the related policy responses have, along with other factors, led to a slowing and even reversal of poverty reduction in some regions.

  7. Data from the World Inequality Database shows that between 2000 and 2023, the top 1 per cent in India have grown their share of wealth by 62 per cent.

  8. Maternal mortality rates show clear evidence of racial, economic, regional and global inequality. In Kerala, the number of women dying in pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births is 22, while the corresponding number in Madhya Pradesh is 160.  In the United States, African American women are more than twice as likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth as white women or women in Kerala. 


    Focus and Factoids by Yukita Thangamma.


    PARI Library's health archive project is part of an initiative supported by the Azim Premji University to develop a free-access repository of health-related reports relevant to rural India.


AUTHOR

Joseph E. Stiglitz, Adriana Abdenur, Winnie Byanyima, Jayati Ghosh, Imraan Walodia, Wange Zembe-Mkabile

COPYRIGHT

G20 Extraordinary Committee of Independent Experts on Global Inequality

PUBLICATION DATE

Nov, 2025

TAGS

#inequality #global-inequality

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