Mon Jan 20 04:45:23 UTC 2025: ## Billionaire Wealth Surges by $2 Trillion in 2024, Exacerbating Global Inequality: Oxfam Report
**Davos, Switzerland –** Global billionaire wealth skyrocketed by $2 trillion in 2024, reaching a staggering $15 trillion, according to a new Oxfam International report released Monday at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos. This represents a three-fold increase in the rate of growth compared to the previous year.
The report, titled “Takers, not Makers,” sharply contrasts this dramatic wealth accumulation with the stagnant number of people living in poverty, which has remained virtually unchanged since 1990. Asia saw a particularly significant increase, with billionaire wealth growing by $299 billion. Oxfam predicts at least five trillionaires will exist within the next decade.
The organization highlights the unearned nature of much of this wealth. A significant 60% is attributed to inheritance, monopoly power, or crony connections, according to the report. This, coupled with the historical legacy of colonialism, is identified as a primary driver of the widening wealth gap.
Oxfam’s analysis reveals that the richest 1% in the Global North extracted $30 million per hour from the Global South in 2023 through financial systems. The report also notes that the Global North controls a disproportionate share of global wealth (69%), billionaire wealth (77%), and the number of billionaires (68%), despite comprising only 21% of the global population.
The report urges governments to implement wealth taxes to address inequality and dismantle what it terms a “new aristocracy.” It also calls for former colonial powers to provide reparations for past harms.
Oxfam Executive Director Amitabh Behar stated that the current system is “crushing ordinary people” and that the funds needed for essential services like education and healthcare are being diverted to the super-rich. He criticized the election of a billionaire president backed by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, as the “crown jewel” of this oligarchy.
The report further details alarming statistics: 204 new billionaires were created in 2024, averaging nearly four per week; the wealth of the ten richest men increased by almost $100 million daily; and 36% of billionaire wealth is inherited. The report uses data from sources including Forbes, UBS, the World Bank, and the ILO to support its findings, highlighting the significant gender and migrant worker pay gaps as further evidence of systemic inequality.
First Piper 