The group’s report comes as some of the world’s political and financial elites prepare for their annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland.
As some of the world’s political and financial elites prepare to attend their annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland, global advocacy group Oxfam International predicts that in 2024, the world’s billionaires’ wealth will increase from the previous year. It was announced that the number has increased three times faster than the previous year.
Oxfam on Monday announced in its latest assessment of global inequality, coinciding with the opening of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting, that billionaires’ combined wealth rose by $2 trillion last year to $15 trillion.
The report, titled “Takers Not Makers,” said there will be 2,769 billionaires in the world in 2024, an increase of 204 from the previous year. The report found that at least four new billionaires were “minted” every week during the year, with three-fifths of billionaires’ wealth coming from inheritance, monopoly power or “nepotism.” .
Oxfam has predicted that there will be at least five trillionaires over the next decade. A year ago, the group predicted that only one trillionaire would emerge over that period.
“The grip of the global economy by a privileged few has reached heights once thought unimaginable. Having failed to stop billionaires, we are now creating soon-to-be trillionaires. Oxfam’s international director general, Amitabh Behar, said in a statement that not only has the rate of billionaire wealth accumulation tripled, but their power has also increased.
The group warned that US President-elect Donald Trump’s policies will “further fan the flames of inequality”.
According to Oxfam, on average, a billionaire’s wealth grew by $2 million a day. The 10 richest billionaires became an average of $100 million richer per day. Even if they lost 99% of their wealth overnight, they would still remain billionaires, the report said.
In contrast, the report said the number of people living below the World Bank poverty line has “barely changed” since the 1990s, and the number of people going hungry is increasing.
The report is based on data from sources such as estimates of billionaire wealth produced by US business magazine Forbes and data from the World Bank.
Around 3,000 participants, including business executives, academics, government officials and civil society leaders, are expected to attend the WEF conference, which begins Monday in the Alpine village of Davos.
Trump has visited Davos twice during his first term and is scheduled to take the oath of office on Monday, as well as participate in a forum event by video on Thursday. He has long been a proponent of accumulating wealth, including his own, and counts billionaire Elon Musk among his top advisers.
“What you’re looking at right now is a billionaire president being sworn in with the support of the richest man today. So this is really the jewel in the crown of the global oligarchy.” Oxfam’s Behar said, referring to Trump and Musk.
“This is not about any particular individual. This is an economic system that we have created where billionaires can pretty much shape economic policy and social policy, which ultimately gives them more and more benefits. ,” he added.
The group called on governments to tax the richest and “dismantle the new aristocracy” to reduce inequality and extreme wealth. It also called for measures such as breaking up monopolies, capping CEO pay and regulating companies to ensure they pay workers a “living wage.”
