The global economic system is broken, wholly unfit for purpose as it enables and perpetuates this explosion of riches, while nearly half of humanity continues to live in poverty.
Global billionaire wealth grew by $2 trillion in 2024, equivalent to roughly $5.7 billion a day. The rate of growth is three times faster than the year before.
The world is now on track to see five trillionaires within a decade, the latest annual Oxfam inequality report reveals.
Meanwhile, according to the World Bank, the number of people still living in poverty - around 3.5 billion - has barely changed since 1990.
Wealth
It warns that progress on poverty reduction has slowed to a standstill and that extreme poverty could be ended three times faster if inequality were to be reduced.
Oxfam’s report, Takers Not Makers calls for bold solutions to radically reduce inequality and hardwire fairness into our economies. It was published as business elites gathered in the Swiss resort of Davos and Donald Trump is inaugurated as President of the United States.
This ever-growing concentration of wealth is enabled by a monopolistic concentration of power, with billionaires increasingly exerting influence over industries and public opinion.
In 2024, the number of billionaires rose to 2,769, up from 2,565 in 2023. Their combined wealth surged from $13 trillion to $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 $100 million a day and even if they lost 99 per cent of their wealth overnight, they would remain billionaires.
Super-rich
UK billionaires saw their collective wealth increase last year by £35 million ($44m) a day to £182 billion ($231bn) - enough to cover the city of Manchester in £10 notes almost 1.5 times over. Four new billionaires were created last year, taking the current total to 57.
Anna Marriott, Oxfam inequality policy lead said: “Last year we predicted the first trillionaire could emerge within a decade, but this shocking acceleration of wealth means that the world is now on course for at least five.
"The global economic system is broken, wholly unfit for purpose as it enables and perpetuates this explosion of riches, while nearly half of humanity continues to live in poverty.
“The UK Government should be prioritising economic policies that bring down inequality and crucially, start supporting higher taxation on the super-rich. Huge sums of money could be raised, to tackle inequality here in the UK and overseas and provide crucial investment for our public services."
She added: "For the first time, with the groundbreaking G20 agreement to cooperate on taxing the world’s super-rich, there is genuine momentum to implement fairer taxation globally. The UK should champion this opportunity to help build more equal societies at home and abroad.”
Colonialism
The report examines unmerited wealth and colonialism, understood as not only a history of brutal wealth extraction but also a powerful force behind today’s extreme levels of inequality. It shines a light on how, contrary to popular perception, billionaire wealth is largely unearned.
The global economic system is broken, wholly unfit for purpose as it enables and perpetuates this explosion of riches, while nearly half of humanity continues to live in poverty.
Oxfam’s analysis finds that 60 per cent of billionaire wealth globally now comes from inheritance, monopoly power or crony connections – between the richest and governments.
In the UK, 37 per cent of billionaire wealth is derived from cronyism, 15 per cent from monopolies - both highest among G7 countries - and seven per cent from inheritance.
Many of the super-rich, particularly in Europe, owe part of their wealth to historical colonialism and the exploitation of poorer countries.
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 describes as modern-day colonialism.
Exploitation
The richest one per cent in Global North countries like the US, UK and France extracted $30 million an hour from the Global South through the financial system in 2023.
Global North countries control 69 per cent of global wealth, 77 per cent of billionaire wealth and are home to 68 per cent of billionaires, despite making up just 21 per cent of the global population.
Low-and middle-income countries spend on average nearly half of their national budgets on debt repayments and interests, often to rich creditors in London and New York. This far outstrips their combined investment in education and healthcare.
The UK has a special responsibility, as approximately 90 per cent of debt for low-income countries is contracted in London under UK law. Between 1970 and 2023, Global South governments paid $3.3 trillion in interest to Northern creditors.
The history of empire, racism and exploitation has left a lasting legacy of inequality. Today, the average life expectancy of Africans is still more than 15 years shorter than that of Europeans.
Fairness
Research shows that wages in the Global South are 87 to 95 per cent lower than wages in the Global North for work of equal skill. Despite contributing 90 per cent of the labour that drives the global economy, workers in low- and middle-income countries receive only 21 per cent of global income.
Oxfam is calling on all governments, including the UK, to act urgently to reduce inequality and end extreme wealth by:
- Radically reducing inequality. Governments need to commit to ensuring that, both globally and at a national level, the incomes of the top 10 per cent are no higher than the bottom 40 per cent.
- Taxing 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.
- Ending 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. Former colonial powers, including the UK, must also confront the lasting harm caused by their colonial rule, offer formal apologies, and provide reparations to affected communities.
Oxfam GB has launched a campaign action, to put fairness, sustainability and equality first. It starts with making those at the top pay their fair share of tax. You can join the fight for a fairer future here.
This Author
Brendan Montague is editor of The Ecologist. This article is based on a press release from Oxfam.