“In 2024, the combined wealth of billionaires increased by two trillion US dollars and 204 new super-rich emerged, which is an average of almost four new billionaires a week,” says a new report on income inequality. Oxfam Intermón.
The NGO’s calculations suggest that, last year, the combined wealth of billionaires increased three times faster than in 2023. “The fortune of each billionaire grew, on average, at a rate of two million dollars a day and, in the case of the ten richest billionaires, at a rate of 100 million dollars a day,” states the document, titled ‘The looting continues’ and which was published this Monday, coinciding with the World Economic Forum held in Davos and with the inauguration of magnate Donald Trump as president of the United States.
“In contrast, the number of people living in poverty has barely changed since 1990, due to the economic and climate crises, as well as global conflicts,” the report continues. According to data collected by Oxfam, there are 3.6 billion people around the planet who live below the poverty line established by the World Bank at $6.85 per day in purchasing power parity (PPP). The same as in 1990, according to the NGO.
“This figure currently represents 44% of the world’s population. Meanwhile, in a perverse symmetry, the richest 1% of the world’s population owns practically this same percentage of wealth: 45% of the total,” he continues.
Inheritances, clientelism and corruption
“60% of the wealth of billionaires is either inherited, or is marked by clientelism and corruption, or linked to monopolistic power,” explains the Oxfam report. In fact, in 2023, for the first time in history, more billionaires emerged thanks to inheritances than as a result of entrepreneurship, according to the document.
Furthermore, in 2023, the richest 1% of the population in the global north obtained 263 billion US dollars from the countries of the global south through the financial system. This figure is equivalent to more than 30 million dollars every hour.
The richest men
In sectors where monopolies are consolidating, billionaires see their wealth skyrocket to unprecedented levels. “Increasing monopolistic power largely explains the growth in extreme wealth concentration and inequality around the world,” Oxfam denounces.
“Monopolistic companies can control markets, establish the rules and terms of trade with other companies and workers, and even set higher prices without losing business share. These strategies allow them to fatten the pockets of their rich owners, some of whom are among the richest men in the world,” he adds.
Oxfam estimates that 18% of the combined wealth of global billionaires is the result of monopolistic power. Two examples are Jeff Bezos, who has a net worth: 219.4 billion US dollars, and who built the Amazon “empire”, which concentrates at least 70% of online purchases in Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Spain. ; and Aliko Dangote, who has a net worth of US$11 billion – the richest person in Africa – and who has a “quasi-monopoly” in the cement sector in Nigeria and considerable market power throughout the world. African continent.
Inequality
World Bank research reveals that only 8% of the world’s population lives in countries with a low level of inequality. In its 2024 edition, the Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index (CRI Index) prepared by Oxfam and Development Finance International reveals that, as of 2022, the vast majority of countries present negative trends in inequality.
“Four out of five countries have cut the percentage of their budget allocated to education, health and/or social protection; “Also, four out of five countries have regressed in terms of progressive taxation, and nine out of ten have done so in terms of labor rights and minimum wages,” laments the Oxfam report. “If urgent political measures are not adopted to reverse this worrying trend, it is virtually certain that economic inequality will continue to increase in 90% of countries,” he concludes.
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