According to Oxfam, billionaires are richer than ever

The wealth of billionaires has soared to a record $18.3 trillion, according to a report by global charity Oxfam released on Monday – with the super-rich seeking power “for their own benefit”.

The number of billionaires surpassed 3,000 last year, and their wealth grew by 16%, or $2.5 trillion, the report said.

In addition, the wealth of billionaires has increased by 81% since 2020, the charity said, describing the past as “a good decade for billionaires”.

The charity said in a release that while the rich got richer, the poverty rate slowed to “2019 levels”.

Oxfam also notes that the super-rich often use their wealth to gain control of political power and the media, the billionaire noted. Elon Musk’s participation in the United States. In early 2025, the administration, Jeff Bezos’ ownership of The Washington Post, and billionaire Vincent Bollor’s purchase of the French news site CNews.

Oxfam’s executive director Amitabh Behar said in the charity’s report, “Resisting the Rule of the Rich: Defending Billionaire Rule from Billionaire Rule,” that the influence of the super-rich on our politicians, economies and media has deepened inequality and taken us far from fighting poverty.

The charity released the report on inequality in line with the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting DavosSwitzerland, every year since 2014. Last year, Oxfam predicted that the world would see at least five trillionaires in a decade and called for a global tax policy to ensure the rich pay their fair share.

This year, Davos, which begins on Monday, will host approximately 65 heads of state and 850 CEOs, and US President Donald Trump will address the delegates on Wednesday.

“The widening gap between the rich and the rest … creates a very dangerous and unsustainable political deficit,” Behar said.

“Governments are making the wrong choice to pander to elites and protect wealth, suppressing people’s rights and angering them at how unaffordable and intolerable their lives are,” Behar said.

in 2025, Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ introduced several tax breaks for the wealthy, and incomes over $1 million will increase by about 3%.

Moreover, most Americans can no longer afford a “minimum quality of life,” according to a 2023 report from the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity. In 2024, 10% of Americans will live in poverty according to US Census data released in September.

Oxfam has called on governments to develop plans to reduce national inequality, tax the super-rich to reduce their power and prioritize stronger “firewalls” between politics and wealth, as well as stronger protections for freedom of expression.

The report comes as a surplus 2500 people died in Iran Protests against the prolonged economic crisis began last month. There were more than 140 “significant” anti-government protests in 68 countries last year, according to Oxfam, and the authorities were “usually violent.”

“Being economically poor breeds hunger. Being politically poor breeds anger,” Behar said.

Rich countries are “cutting aid faster than ever,” says Oxfam’s report. These abbreviations include Shutdown of USAIDAn additional 14 million deaths could occur by 2030, the charity says.

– CNBC’s April Roach contributed to this report.