The group’s report comes as among the world’s political and monetary elite put together for an annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland.
Billionaires’ wealth globally grew 3 times quicker in 2024 than the yr earlier than, international advocacy group Oxfam Worldwide says, as among the world’s political and monetary elite put together to attend an annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland.
In its newest evaluation of world inequality timed to the opening of the World Financial Discussion board (WEF) assembly, Oxfam on Monday stated the mixed wealth of billionaires rose by $2 trillion to $15 trillion final yr.
The report, titled Takers Not Makers, stated there have been 2,769 billionaires worldwide in 2024, a rise of 204 over the earlier yr. It famous that at the least 4 new billionaires have been “minted” each week in the course of the yr, and three-fifths of billionaire wealth got here from inheritance, monopoly energy or “crony connections”.
Oxfam predicted that at the least 5 trillionaires will crop up over the subsequent decade. A yr in the past, the group forecast that just one trillionaire would seem in that interval.
“The seize of our international financial system by a privileged few has reached heights as soon as thought of unimaginable. The failure to cease billionaires is now spawning soon-to-be trillionaires. Not solely has the speed of billionaire wealth accumulation accelerated – by 3 times – however so too has their energy,” Oxfam Worldwide Government Director Amitabh Behar stated in a press release.
The group warned that the US’ President-elect Donald Trump’s insurance policies “are set to fire up inequality additional”.
On common, the wealth of a single billionaire elevated by $2m a day, Oxfam stated. The richest 10 billionaires grew to become richer by a median of $100m per day. Even when they have been to lose 99 p.c of their wealth in a single day, they might nonetheless stay billionaires, it stated.
In distinction, the report stated the variety of folks residing under the World Financial institution’s poverty line has “barely budged” because the Nineteen Nineties and the variety of people going hungry is rising.
The report relies on knowledge from sources together with estimates of the wealth of billionaires made by the US enterprise journal Forbes and knowledge from the World Financial institution.
The WEF assembly within the Alpine village of Davos, beginning Monday, expects to host some 3,000 attendees, together with enterprise executives, teachers, authorities officers, and civic group leaders.
Trump, who visited Davos twice throughout his first time period and is about to take the oath of workplace additionally on Monday, is anticipated to participate within the discussion board’s occasion by video on Thursday. He has lengthy championed wealth accumulation – together with his personal – and counts multibillionaire Elon Musk as a prime adviser.
“What you’re seeing in the mean time is a billionaire president taking oaths at present, backed by the richest man. So that is just about the jewel within the crown of the worldwide oligarchies,” Oxfam’s Behar stated, referring to Trump and Musk.
“It’s not about one particular particular person. It’s the financial system that we’ve got created the place the billionaires are actually just about having the ability to form financial insurance policies, social insurance policies, which finally offers them increasingly more revenue,” he added.
The group known as on governments to tax the richest to scale back inequality and excessive wealth, and to “dismantle the brand new aristocracy”. It additionally known as for steps just like the break-up of monopolies, capping CEO pay, and regulation of firms to make sure they pay “residing wages” to employees.
