Top 10% highest earners in Europe paid as much as bottom 50%, report finds

Wage inequality between highest and lowest paid workers risks fuelling rise of nationalism, report warns, while gender pay gap highest among CEOs

The top 10% of highest paid workers in Europe together earn almost as much as the bottom 50%, according to a report from the International Labour Organization that calls on governments and companies to do more to ensure the fruits of economic growth are shared out.

The UN agency used its latest report into global wage trends to examine earnings inequality between different earners within firms and between firms. It also found startling discrepancies between men and women's salaries at senior level in Europe with a gender pay gap of more than 50% for chief executives.