The world's richest one percent have more than twice as much wealth as 6.9 billion people, according to Oxfam, underlining that "economic inequality is out of control."

In a new report called "Time to Care" published by Oxfam ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, the UK-based charity urged governments to "build a human economy that is feminist and values what truly matters to society, rather than fueling an endless pursuit of profit and wealth."

The charity called the world's economy "a tale of two extremes," showing the number of billionaires has doubled in the last decade.

"The gap between rich and poor can't be resolved without deliberate inequality-busting policies, and too few governments are committed to these," said Oxfam India CEO Amitabh Behar, who is in Davos to represent the Oxfam confederation this year.

Oxfam's annual report on global inequality is traditionally released before the WEF opens, and here are some astonishing statistics from it:

• In 2019, the world's 2,153 billionaires have more wealth than the 4.6 billion people who make up 60 percent of the planet's population. 

• The 22 richest men have more wealth than all the women in Africa. 

• If everyone were to sit on their wealth piled up in 100 U.S. dollars bills, most of humanity would be sitting on the floor. 

• A middle-class person in a rich country would be sitting at the height of a chair. The world's two richest men would be sitting in outer space. 

• The monetary value of women's unpaid care work globally for women aged 15 and over is at least 10.8 trillion U.S. dollars annually – three times the size of the world's tech industry. 

• Taxing an additional 0.5 percent of the wealth of the richest one percent over the next 10 years is equal to investments needed to create 117 million jobs in education, health and elderly care and other sectors, and to close care deficits.

Too rich, too poor, a tale of two extremes

According to data complied by Bloomberg, the world's three richest people amassed a total of 231 billion U.S. dollars over the past decade. 

Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg – the fifth-richest person in the world – had the highest boost last year, with a net gain of about six billion U.S. dollars. He became the world's youngest self-made billionaire in 2007 when he was just 23. Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos still claims the top spot with a net worth of 115.6 billion U.S. dollars.

However, according to new figures from the World Bank, nearly half the world is trying to survive on 5.50 U.S. dollars a day or less.

"If countries reduced income inequality by one percent each year, 100 million fewer people would be living in extreme poverty by 2030," the report said.

(Cover image by CGTN's Li Jingjie)