Billionaires’ wealth increases, Oxfam predicts five trillionaires in the decade

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The Eurozone’s GDP is around $15 trillion (€14.5 trillion), the equivalent of what the world’s billionaires will own in 2024. The number of people holding the prestigious title has reached 2,769 last year, a crowd that could almost fill the Sydney Opera House concert hall.

According to the anti-poverty organization Oxfam International, the wealth of billionaires will have increased 2 trillion or 2,000 billion dollars (1,930 billion euros) in 2024, which is equivalent to approximately 5.7 billion dollars (5.5 billion euros) per day, or three times faster than the previous yearwhile the number of people living in poverty, that is to say on less than 6.85 dollars (6.64 euros) per day, has practically not changed since 1990.

The global inequality report also predicts thatat least five trillionaires will be created over the next decade. A year ago, the group predicted thatjust one trillionaire would appear during this period.

The Oxfam study, “Takers Not Makers,” was released 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, is set to become the 47th president of the United States.

“The control of a privileged few over our global economy has reached heights once considered unimaginable,” said Amitabh Behar, executive director of Oxfam International, adding that “the failure to stop billionaires is now breeding trillionaires in “Not only has the rate of billionaires’ wealth accumulation accelerated – by three times – but their power has also accelerated.”

Referring to future US President Donald Trump and billionaire businessman Elon Musk, Mr Behar said: “It’s not about any one individual. It’s about the economic system that we have created and in which billionaires are now able to shape economic policies, social policies, which ultimately gives them more and more profit,” according to AP.

Like Mr Biden, who called on billionaires to “start paying their fair share” through the US tax code, Oxfam has called on governments to tax the richest to reduce inequality and extreme wealth and to “dismantle the new aristocracy”.

The group called for measures such as breaking up monopolies, capping CEO pay and regulating companies to ensure they pay “living wages” to workers.

According to Oxfam, low- and middle-income countries spend on average almost half of their national budgets on debt repayment. This far exceeds their combined investments in education and health care. The organization also noted that life expectancy in Africa is just under 64 years, while it is over 79 years in Europe.