The gap between rich and poor has never been as wide as it is today, and growing inequality could lead to greater instability, a report by Oxfam warns.

The report, released today ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos in Switzerland, identifies large corporations and the super-rich as drivers of inequality.

"Left unchecked, growing inequality threatens to pull our societies apart. It increases crime and insecurity, and undermines the fight to end poverty. It leaves more people living in fear and fewer in hope," the British-based charity said.

In the year 2015, the richest one percent owned more wealth than the rest of the planet and currently eight men own the same amount of wealth as the poorest half of the world, the report says.

While there has been economic growth, Oxfam says it has been hugely uneven. Incomes of the poorest 10 percent increased by less than US$3 a year between 1988 and 2011, while the income of the richest 10 percent increased by 182 times as much.

Businesses are the lifeblood of a market economy but not when they work for only the rich, the report says.

Corruption and cronyism

The trickle-down notion of wealth had been proved wrong, Oxfam argues, as it was based on several false assumptions, including that the market was always right. Corruption and cronyism have distorted markets and they needed to be managed, the report says.

In an effort to deliver higher returns to shareholders and management, corporations were driven to squeeze their workers and producers, dodge taxes and influence policies through crony capitalism, Oxfam adds.

"Together we need to create a new common sense, and turn things on their head to design an economy whose primary purpose is to benefit 99 percent, not the one percent."

On Wednesday, the WEF released its Global Risks Report, which stated that "rising income and wealth disparity is rated... as the most important trend in determining global developments over the next 10 years.

"Reforming market capitalism must also be added to the agenda," the WEF report said.

Oxfam calls for governments to cooperate, not compete, to ensure that taxes are fair, the environment is protected and workers are paid well.

Technology should be harnessed by governments to reduce inequality and women's unpaid care work should be better recognised, the report says.

- dpa