Paris School of Economics Report: Chile is one of the “most unequal countries in Latin America”

Chile has 120 years of “extreme” inequality and is one of the countries with the most socioeconomic differences in Latin America, warned on Tuesday a prestigious report released by the School of Economics of Paris.The study, led by the World Inequality Lab -dependent on the academic institution-, said that half of the population with fewer resources accumulates a wealth of approximately 0% of the total, while the richest 1% own almost half of it (49.6%). In fact, the accumulated wealth of the least wealthy 50% is negative, -0.6%, due to the amount of population indebted in this sector, the research center added. The country is one of the most unequal in Latin America with levels comparable to the inequality of Brazil,” said the document, coordinated by several emblematic economists among which Thomas Piketty and Gabriel Zucman stand out.In terms of income, half of the poorest population accumulates 10%, while the tenth richest brings together 60% and the wealthiest 1% accumulates 26.5% of the income. Female labor income is 38% of the total, which implies a “significant decrease” in inequality in the last 30 years and is close to other neighboring countries such as Argentina (37%) or Brazil (38%). However, on average, each adult earns approximately 14 million pesos (about 14,000 dollars) and while the bottom 50% earns about 2.8 million pesos (2,900 dollars), the top 10% earn almost 30 times more, 82.9 million (86,000 dollars approximately). According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), one of the most unequal countries in the region – only behind Costa Rica – and is also the nation that most wants the State to reduce its level of inequality in the region.

Original source in Spanish