Oxfam says billionaires’ wealth soared in 2024, with 4 ‘minted’ every week

The group’s study comes arsenic immoderate of the world’s governmental and fiscal elite hole for an yearly gathering successful Davos, Switzerland.

Billionaires’ wealthiness globally grew 3 times faster successful 2024 than the twelvemonth before, planetary advocacy radical Oxfam International says, arsenic immoderate of the world’s governmental and fiscal elite hole to be an yearly gathering successful Davos, Switzerland.

In its latest appraisal of planetary inequality timed to the opening of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting, Oxfam connected Monday said the combined wealthiness of billionaires roseate by $2 trillion to $15 trillion past year.

The report, titled Takers Not Makers, said determination were 2,769 billionaires worldwide successful 2024, an summation of 204 implicit the erstwhile year. It noted that astatine slightest 4 caller billionaires were “minted” each week during the year, and three-fifths of billionaire wealthiness came from inheritance, monopoly powerfulness oregon “crony connections”.

Oxfam predicted that astatine slightest 5 trillionaires volition harvest up implicit the adjacent decade. A twelvemonth ago, the radical forecast that lone 1 trillionaire would look successful that period.

“The seizure of our planetary system by a privileged fewer has reached heights erstwhile considered unimaginable. The nonaccomplishment to halt billionaires is present spawning soon-to-be trillionaires. Not lone has the complaint of billionaire wealthiness accumulation accelerated – by 3 times – but truthful excessively has their power,” Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar said successful a statement.

The radical warned that the United States’ President-elect Donald Trump’s policies “are acceptable to instrumentality the flames of inequality further”.

A British activistic holds a motion during a protestation against the WEF gathering successful Davos [File: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP]

On average, the wealthiness of a azygous billionaire accrued by $2m a day, Oxfam said. The richest 10 billionaires became richer by an mean of $100m per day. Even if they were to suffer 99 percent of their wealthiness overnight, they would inactive stay billionaires, it said.

In contrast, the study said the fig of radical surviving beneath the World Bank’s poorness enactment has “barely budged” since the 1990s and the fig of people going hungry is rising.

The study is based connected information from sources including estimates of the wealthiness of billionaires made by the US concern mag Forbes and information from the World Bank.

The WEF gathering successful the Alpine colony of Davos, starting Monday, expects to big immoderate 3,000 attendees, including concern executives, academics, authorities officials, and civic radical leaders.

Trump, who visited Davos doubly during his archetypal word and is acceptable to instrumentality the oath of bureau besides connected Monday, is expected to instrumentality portion successful the forum’s lawsuit by video connected Thursday. He has agelong championed wealth accumulation – including his ain – and counts multibillionaire Elon Musk arsenic a apical adviser.

“What you’re seeing astatine the infinitesimal is simply a billionaire president taking oaths today, backed by the richest man. So this is beauteous overmuch the jewel successful the crown of the planetary oligarchies,” Oxfam’s Behar said, referring to Trump and Musk.

“It’s not astir 1 circumstantial individual. It’s the economical strategy that we person created wherever the billionaires are present beauteous overmuch being capable to signifier economical policies, societal policies, which yet gives them much and much profit,” helium added.

The radical called connected governments to taxation the richest to trim inequality and utmost wealth, and to “dismantle the caller aristocracy”. It besides called for steps similar the break-up of monopolies, capping CEO pay, and regularisation of corporations to guarantee they wage “living wages” to workers.