Rate Of Wealth Growth Last Year Was Three Times Faster Than In 2023!

By Harinder Mahil

The wealth of the world’s billionaires grew by $2 trillion (US funds) in 2024, three times faster than in 2023, according to a report issued by Oxfam on January 20, 2025. This amounts to a growth of $5.7 billion a day.

At the same time, the number of people living under the World Bank poverty line of $6.85 a day has barely changed since 1990 and is close to 3.6 billion. This represents 44% of the world’s population today, the charity said. One in 10 women live in extreme poverty (below $2.15 a day), which means 24.3 million more women than men endure extreme poverty.

The report, titled Takers Not Makers, comes as many of the world’s political leaders and the super-rich travel to the Swiss ski resort of Davos for their annual Economic Forum.

The latest inequality report from the charity reveals that the world is now on track to have five trillionaires within a decade, a change from last year’s forecast of one trillionaire with in 10 years.

Oxfam’s examination of billionaire assets also coincides with Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president. Trump has included several billionaires in his team of advisers, including the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive, Elon Musk. He is promising to offer large-scale tax breaks to the wealthiest US citizens.

Oxfam has warned that progress on reducing poverty had ground to a halt and that extreme poverty could be ended three times faster if inequality were to be reduced.

Globally, the number of billionaires rose by 204 last year to 2,769. Their combined wealth jumped from $13tn to $15tn in just 12 months – the second-largest annual increase since records began. The wealth of the world’s 10 richest men grew on average by almost $100m a day and even if they lost 99% of their wealth overnight, they would remain billionaires.

They include the Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, with a net worth of $219.4bn, whose Amazon “empire” accounts for 70% or more of online purchases in Germany, France, the UK and Spain.

The report argues that most of the wealth is taken, not earned, as 60% comes from either inheritance, “cronyism and corruption” or monopoly power. It calculates that 18% of the wealth arises from monopoly power.

According to the Forbes, the richest people in the world are Elon Musk; Jeff Bezos; Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook and Meta co-founder; Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle; and the LVMH founder Bernard Arnault.

Oxfam is calling on governments to:

–        Radically reduce inequality – setting global and national goals to do so.

–        Repair the wounds of historical colonialism through apology and reparations.

–        End systems of modern-day colonialism.

–        Tax the richest to end extreme wealth.

–        Promote South-South cooperation and solidarity.

–        End ongoing formal colonialism in all forms.

These are excellent recommendations if governments are serious about ending 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.

It is extremely important to abolish tax havens. 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.  

Harinder Mahil is a human rights activist and is secretary of Dr. Hari Sharma Foundation.