Oxfam study
This is how much money the richest people in the world have
© Irina Strelnikova / Adobe Stock
At the start of the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Oxfam organization presented new figures on the distribution and development of wealth worldwide. What you notice at a glance: The wealth of the rich has grown significantly, while that of the poor has shrunk.
The gap between financially poor and rich people has widened or deepened over the past three years. At least that’s what the figures from the development organization suggest Oxfam presented on January 15th at the start of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Super-rich people doubled their wealth, poor people lost money due to war, inflation, etc.
The Oxfam report “Inequality Inc” According to the five richest people in the world, their wealth has more than doubled since 2020: Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Warren Buffet and Co. now have a combined total of 869 billion US dollars (791 billion), in 2020 the total of their assets was still equal at 405 billion US dollars (369 billion euros). So they made around 14 million US dollars an hour in these years. The five richest Germans increased their wealth by almost 75 percent from 89 to 155 billion US dollars (81 or 142 billion euros).
On the other hand, poor people around the world have suffered a clear loss during this period: the wealth of the 4.7 billion poorest people on earth – i.e. the combined wealth of 60 percent of the world’s population – has fallen by 20 billion US dollars (around 18 billion Euro) shrank. The wages of 791 million workers have not kept up with the inflation rate: they now earn about a month’s wages less than they did two years ago.
“While billions of people endure the shock waves of pandemic, inflation and war, the fortunes of billionaires are booming,” said Oxfam CEO Serap Altinisik about these figures. If our world were to develop in the future as it has in recent years, in around ten years there would be the first person with a fortune of one trillion US dollars – and in 230 years there would still be people living below the poverty line.
Distribution of wealth is an issue for world politics
A sensible measure to counteract the drifting apart of society and a further exacerbation of inequality would be, for example, a revision of the tax system. “We need a tax on high wealth so that the super-rich also make their fair contribution to the common good,” said Oxfam CEO Serap Altinisik.
Around 2,800 people are taking part in the World Economic Forum from January 15th to 19th in the Swiss resort of Davos, including just over 60 heads of state and government. In addition to the Ukraine war and the war between Israel and Hamas, which dominate the agenda of the five-day conference, the topics will include the rising cost of living, the climate crisis and the use of artificial intelligence.
Sources used: oxfam.de, zeit.de, spiegel.de, zdf.de