Within countries, wealth gaps are widening, while between countries, wealth gaps are narrowing.

Judge as of October 2020, using major inequality research (for example the World Inequality Report 2018, Milanovic's work, Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report, World Bank). True: the research shows that inequality (wealth or income) has risen within most major countries over recent decades, while gaps between countries (for example between average incomes or wealth in emerging and developed economies) have narrowed. Mostly true: both trends hold broadly, but with notable exceptions or only for income rather than wealth. Mixed: only one of the two trends is well supported. Mostly false: both trends hold only in a narrow subset or period and the claim generalizes them misleadingly. False: the research shows within-country gaps narrowing generally, or between-country gaps widening.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 Part II - Trends in global income inequality World Inequality Report 2018 (WID.world)

   “The trend break after 2000 is due to a reduction in between-country average income inequality, as within-country inequality has continued to increase.”

2. E2 Part II - Trends in global income inequality World Inequality Report 2018 (WID.world)

   “Since 1980, income inequality has increased rapidly in North America and Asia, grown moderately in Europe, and stabilized at an extremely high level in the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, and Brazil.”

3. E3 Part II - Trends in global income inequality World Inequality Report 2018 (WID.world)

   “Indeed, China’s impressive real per-adult national income growth rate over the period (831% from 1980 to 2016, versus 106% from 1950 to 1980: see Table 2.2.4) highly contributed to reducing between-country inequalities over the world.”

4. E4 Part II - Trends in global income inequality World Inequality Report 2018 (WID.world)

   “Despite a reduction of inequality between countries, average national income inequalities remain strong among countries.”

The World Inequality Report 2018 says inequality between countries' average incomes has fallen since 2000 while inequality within countries kept rising (E1). It attributes much of the narrowing between countries to China's income growth (E3). However, the report also says inequality within countries only "stabilized" in the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa and Brazil (E2), and that large gaps between countries remain (E4). All of this evidence measures income, not wealth, so both trends hold broadly but with notable exceptions and only for income, which matches the criteria for mostly true.