Billionaires’ wealth grow by $2 trilion; number of poverty-stricken

The wealth of billionaires increased by $2 trillion in 2024 alone, while the number of people living in poverty barely changed since 1990.

Anti-poverty organization Oxfam International said in a report that the super rich gained $5.7 billion every day in 2024, three times faster than in 2023. Also, billionaires are also seeing a rise in their power and influence.

Meanwhile, statistics from the World Bank showed that the number of people living in poverty, who are living on less than $6.85 a day, has barely changed since 1990.

“The capture of our global economy by a privileged few has reached heights once considered unimaginable. The failure to stop billionaires is now spawning soon-to-be trillionaires. Not only has the rate of billionaire wealth accumulation accelerated — by three times — but so too has their power,” said Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar.

Also, large sums of money continue to go from the Global South to the nations in the Global North and their wealthiest inhabitants, perpetuating the wealth extraction dynamic that Oxfam’s study refers to as “modern-day colonialism.”

Many of the super-rich, particularly in Europe, owe part of their wealth to historical colonialism and the exploitation of poorer countries.

In 2024, the number of billionaires rose to 2,769, up from 2,565 in the previous year as their combined wealth increased from $13 trillion to $15 trillion in just a year.

The wealth of the world’s 10 richest men grew on average by almost $100 million a day — even if they lost 99% of their wealth overnight, they would remain billionaires — according to the report.

Oxfam predicted that the world would see at least five trillionaires a decade from now.

The Oxfam report suggests three ways for governments to reduce inequality and end extreme wealth: radically reducing inequality to end poverty; taxing the richest and abolishing tax havens; and ending the flow of wealth from South to North.

PIXABAY PHOTO

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