• Oxfam predicts there will be at least five trillionaires a decade from now.
• 204 new billionaires were minted in 2024, nearly four every week.
• Sixty percent of billionaire wealth is now derived from inheritance, monopoly power or crony connections.
• Richest 1 percent in the Global North extracted US$30 million an hour from the Global South through the financial system in 2023.
• Oxfam urges governments to tax the richest to reduce inequality, end extreme wealth, and dismantle the new aristocracy. Former colonial powers must address past harms with reparations.

Oxfam publishes “Takers Not Makers” today as business elites gather in the Swiss resort town of Davos, revealing unprecedented growth in billionaire wealth during 2024. Billionaire wealth grew by US$2 trillion in 2024 alone, equivalent to roughly US$5.7 billion a day, at a rate three times faster than the year before. An average of nearly four new billionaires were minted every week.

Meanwhile, the number of people living in poverty has barely changed since 1990, according to World Bank data.

In 2024, the number of billionaires rose to 2,769, up from 2,565 in 2023. Their combined wealth surged from US$13 trillion to US$15 trillion in just 12 months. This is the second largest annual increase in billionaire wealth since records began. The wealth of the world’s ten richest men grew on average by almost US$100 million a day —even if they lost 99 percent of their wealth overnight, they would remain billionaires.

Last year, Oxfam predicted the emergence of the first trillionaire within a decade. However, with billionaire wealth accelerating at a faster pace this projection has expanded dramatically —at current rates the world is now on track to see at least five trillionaires within that timeframe.

This ever-growing concentration of wealth is enabled by a monopolistic concentration of power, with billionaires increasingly exerting influence over industries and public opinion.

“The capture of our global economy by a privileged few has reached heights once considered unimaginable. The failure to stop billionaires is now spawning soon-to-be trillionaires. Not only has the rate of billionaire wealth accumulation accelerated —by three times— but so too has their power,” said Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar.

“We present this report as a stark wake up-call that ordinary people the world over are being crushed by the enormous wealth of a tiny few,” said Behar.

The report also shines a light on how, contrary to popular perception, billionaire wealth is largely unearned —60 percent of billionaire wealth now comes from inheritance, monopoly power or crony connections. Oxfam’s calculates that 36 percent of billionaire wealth is now inherited. Research by Forbes found that every billionaire under 30 has inherited their wealth, while UBS estimates that over 1,000 of today’s billionaires will pass on more than US$5.2 trillion to their heirs over the next two to three decades.

Many of the super-rich, particularly in Europe, owe part of their wealth to historical colonialism and the exploitation of poorer countries. Colonialism is not only a history of brutal wealth extraction but also a powerful force behind today’s extreme levels of inequality. This dynamic of wealth extraction persists today: vast sums of money still flow from the Global South to countries in the Global North and their richest citizens, in what Oxfam’s report describes as modern-day colonialism.

• The richest 1 percent in Global North countries like the US, UK and France extracted US$30 million an hour from the Global South through the financial system in 2023.
• Global North countries control 69 percent of global wealth, 77 percent of billionaire wealth and are home to 68 percent of billionaires, despite making up just 21 percent of the global population.

Low- and middle-income countries spend on average nearly half of their national budgets on debt repayments, often to rich creditors in New York and London. This far outstrips their combined investment in education and healthcare. Between 1970 and 2023, Global South governments paid US$3.3 trillion in interest to Northern creditors.

Research shows that wages in the Global South are 87 to 95 percent lower than wages in the Global North for work of equal skill. Despite contributing 90 percent of the labor that drives the global economy, workers in low- and middle-income countries receive only 21 percent of global income. Globally, women are more often found in the most vulnerable forms of informal employment, including domestic work, than their male counterparts.

Oxfam International is calling on governments to act rapidly to reduce inequality and end extreme wealth concentration, which could lead to poverty being ended three times faster:

• Radically reduce inequality. Governments need to commit to ensuring that, both globally and at a national level, the incomes of the top 10 percent are no higher than the bottom 40 percent. According to World Bank data, reducing inequality could end poverty three times faster.  Governments must also tackle and end the racism, sexism and division that underpin ongoing economic exploitation.
• Tax the richest to end extreme wealth. Global tax policy should fall under a new UN tax convention, ensuring the richest people and corporations pay their fair share. Tax havens must be abolished. Oxfam’s analysis shows that half of the world’s billionaires live in countries with no inheritance tax for direct descendants. Inheritance needs to be taxed to dismantle the new aristocracy.
• End the flow of wealth from South to North. Cancel debts and end the dominance of rich countries and corporations over financial markets and trade rules. This means breaking up monopolies, democratizing patent rules, and regulating corporations to ensure they pay living wages and cap CEO pay. Restructure voting powers in the World Bank, IMF and UN Security Council to guarantee fair representation of Global South countries. Former colonial powers must also confront the lasting harm caused by their colonial rule, offer formal apologies, and provide reparations to affected communities.

- Ends -

Notes to Editor

Download Oxfam’s report “Takers not Makers” and the methodology note to learn more about how Oxfam calculated the statistics in the report.

About Oxfam Hong Kong

Oxfam is a global organisation committed to creating a world without poverty through its advocacy, development and humanitarian work.

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