WEALTH accumulated by the world’s richest 1 per cent will exceed that of the other 99 per cent by next year, Oxfam warned today.

A report by the anti-poverty charity in preparation for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, later this week suggested the wealthiest 1 per cent had seen their slice of global assets rise from 44 per cent in 2009 to 48 per cent last year.

The figure is on track to exceed 50 per cent this year, with Oxfam saying that the richest 1 per cent held an average of £1.8m each.

Meanwhile 80 per cent of the world’s population own just 5.5 per cent of the wealth — about £2,500 each.

Oxfam International executive director Winnie Byanyima, who is co-chairing the World Economic Forum meeting, asked: “Do we really want to live in a world where the 1 per cent 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.”

“In the past 12 months we have seen world leaders from President Obama to Christine Lagarde talk more about tackling extreme inequality, but we are still waiting for many of them to walk the walk.

“It is time our leaders took on the powerful vested interests that stand in the way of a fairer and more prosperous world.

“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,” said Ms Byanyima.

More than 300 heads of state and government are due to attend the 45th World Economic Forum, which starts on Wednesday.

Oxfam said it would call for action to tackle rising inequality at the meeting, including a crackdown on tax dodging by corporations and progress towards a global deal on climate change.