Oxfam report on inequality and global corporate power

The world’s five richest men have more than doubled their fortunes from $405 billion to $869 billion since 2020 - at a rate of $14 million per hour.

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While nearly five billion people have been made poorer, reveals a new Oxfam report on inequality and global corporate power.

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If current trends continue, the world will have its first trillionaire within a decade but poverty won’t be eradicated for another 229 years.

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Despite representing just 21 per cent of the global population, rich countries in the Global North own 69 per cent of global wealth and are home to 74 per cent of the world’s billionaire wealth.

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Here are some of the major outtakes from the Oxfam report:

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Seven out of 10 of the world’s biggest corporations have a billionaire as CEO or principal shareholder, despite stagnation in living standards for millions of workers around the world.

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Billionaires are $3.3 trillion richer than in 2020, and their wealth has grown three times faster than the rate of inflation.

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Oxfam report noted that the combined wealth of the top five richest people in the world – Elon Musk, Bernard Arnault, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison and Mark Zuckerberg – have increased by $464bn, or 114%.

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The total wealth of the poorest 4.77 billion people – making up 60 per cent of the world population – has declined by 0.2 per cent in real terms.

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Across 52 countries, average real wages of nearly 800 million workers have fallen. These workers have lost a combined $1.5 trillion over the last two years.

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Oxfam said the most recent Gini index which measures inequality found that global income inequality was now comparable with that of South Africa, the country with the highest inequality in the world.

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Oxfam found that 148 of the world’s biggest corporations together raked in $1.8tn in total net profits in the year to June 2023, a 52% jump compared with average net profits in 2018-21.

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The world’s richest 1% own 59% of all global financial assets – including stocks, shares and bonds, plus stakes in privately held business.

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Oxfam said states handed power over to monopolies, allowing corporations to influence the wages people are paid, food prices and which medicines individuals can access.

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