‘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 collective wealth of the UK’s billionaires has eincreased by £35m daily, hitting a total of £182bn in 2024, an Oxfam report has revealed.
This sum could blanket Manchester in a sea of £10 notes, stretching nearly one-and-a-half times over, pointed out the anti-poverty charity. Four new UK billionaires emerged last year, bringing the current headcount to 57, the report notes.
Calling for action, Oxfam urges the Government to tap into wealth taxes targeting the ultra-rich, a move they say could slash inequality both in the UK and beyond while fuelling public service investment. Anna Marriott, Oxfam’s inequality policy lead, said: “For the first time, with the groundbreaking G20 agreement to co-operate on taxing the world’s super-rich, there is genuine momentum to implement fairer taxation globally.
She said: “The UK should champion this opportunity to help build more equal societies at home and abroad.”
The report, titled Takers Not Makers, revealed that global billionaire wealth grew by $2trillion last year, from 13trillion to 15trillion, which is equivalent to around $5.7bn per day.
The world is now on track to see five trillionaires within a decade, the charity said. On average, the wealth of the world’s 10 richest people, all of whom are men, grew by almost $100m per day. If the 10 men lost 99% of their wealth overnight, they would remain billionaires, the charity said.
Meanwhile, Oxfam highlighted that 44% of the world’s population currently lives on less than $6.85 per day, according to data from the World Bank.
Ms Marriott said the data revealed a “shocking acceleration of wealth” over the last year. She added: “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 said its analysis highlighted that billionaire wealth is “largely unearned”, and that, globally, 60% comes from “inheritance, monopoly power, or crony connections – between the richest and governments”.
The charity is calling for a new global UN tax convention which would ensure the world’s wealthiest people and corporations “pay their fair share” along with the abolition of “tax havens”.
The annual report was published as business leaders gather in Davos for the World Economic Forum annual meeting this week and is based on data from Forbes’ 2024 Real-Time Billionaires List.
