Billionaire wealth grew by $2 trillion in 2024, equivalent to roughly $5.7 billion a day, three times faster than the year before, while the number of people living in poverty, living on less than $6.85 per day, has barely changed since 1990, according to Oxfam’s latest report.
This report represents a growth rate three times faster than the year prior, underscoring the widening gap between the ultra-rich and the rest of the population.
The number of billionaires rose to 2,769 from 2,565 in 2023, while their combined wealth grew from $13 trillion to $15 trillion in just one year, according to the report. The report highlighted that world’s ten richest men alone saw their wealth grow by nearly $100 million daily, with their wealth levels so vast that even a 99% reduction would leave them billionaires.
Oxfam’s research comes as some of the world’s political and financial elite prepared for an annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum. Meanwhile, billionaire Donald Trump, backed by the world’s richest man Elon Musk, has become the 47th President of the United States.
Unearned Wealth and Inequality
Oxfam’s report, Takers Not Makers, highlights that billionaire wealth is largely unearned — with 60% of wealth now coming from inheritance, monopolistic practices, or crony connections.
“The ultra-rich like to tell us that getting rich takes skill, grit and hard work. But the truth is most wealth is taken, not made. So many of the so-called ‘self-made’ are actually heirs to vast fortunes, handed down through generations of unearned privilege,” said Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar. “Untaxed billions of dollars in inheritance is an affront to fairness, perpetuating a new aristocracy where wealth and power stays locked in the hands of a few,” said Behar.
Oxfam estimates that 36% of billionaire wealth is now inherited. Research by Forbes found that every billionaire under 30 has inherited their wealth, while UBS estimates that over 1,000 of today’s billionaires will pass on more than $5.2 trillion to their heirs over the next two to three decades.
Many of the super-rich owe part of their wealth to historical colonialism and the exploitation of poorer countries. For instance, billionaire Vincent Bolloré’s wealth partly derives from colonial activities in Africa.
Key Highlights
- Billionaire wealth surged by $2 trillion in 2024, growing three times faster than the previous year, reaching a total of $15 trillion.
- Despite the massive increase in billionaire wealth, the number of people living in poverty has seen little change since 1990.
- In 2024, 204 new billionaires were added, nearly four every week, bringing the total to 2,769 billionaires globally.
- Oxfam predicts that at least five trillionaires will emerge within the next decade, driven by the accelerating growth in billionaire wealth.
- Oxfam highlights that 60% of billionaire wealth comes from inheritance, monopoly power, or crony connections, suggesting it is largely unearned.
- Despite comprising only 21% of the global population, Global North countries control 69% of global wealth, 77% of billionaire wealth, and are home to 68% of billionaires.
- In 2023, the richest 1% in the Global North extracted $30 million an hour from the Global South through financial systems.
- Low- and middle-income countries spend nearly half of their national budgets on debt repayments to wealthy creditors in the Global North, undermining investment in education and healthcare.
- Women, especially migrant workers, are more likely to work in informal, lower-paying jobs. Women migrants earn about 13-21% less than their male counterparts in rich countries.
- Oxfam urges governments to radically reduce inequality, tax the wealthiest, eliminate tax havens, cancel debts, and address historical harm through reparations to promote a fairer global economic system.
Oxfam calls on governments to reduce inequality and end extreme wealth
Oxfam has proposed the following measures to tackle extreme wealth and inequality:
- Radically reduce inequality: Ensure the top 10% earn no more than the bottom 40%.
- Tax the richest: Abolish tax havens, introduce global inheritance taxes, and implement fair corporate tax policies.
- End wealth flow from South to North: Cancel debts, regulate corporations, and restructure global institutions like the World Bank and IMF to guarantee fair representation for the Global South.
“The failure to stop billionaires is now spawning soon-to-be trillionaires,” warned Behar, urging governments to act decisively to reduce inequality and end extreme wealth.
