Oxfam: Billionaires Accelerate Wealth Growth to Record Level
Billionaires worldwide saw their rate of wealth growth increase significantly in 2025 to reach record levels, according to an Oxfam report that recommends shrinking inequality via taxes.
In 2025, billionaire wealth rose by more than 16 percent to reach a record $18.3 trillion, according to an Oxfam paper named «Resisting the Rule of the Rich. Protecting freedom from billionaire power», released during the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Billionaire wealth growth last year was three times faster than the average annual rate in the previous five years and since 2020, the amount has soared by 81 percent. And for the first time ever, the number of billionaires surpassed 3,000.
Major Inequality
According to the paper, inequality continues to be on the rise, with the world’s 12 richest billionaires holding more wealth than the bottom half of the entire population or over four billion people. Aside from the wealth gap, the paper also highlighted how these riches can translate to a power gap that can result in even more social issues. For example, billionaires are over 4,00 times more likely to hold political office than ordinary people.
«[F]ar fewer people would disagree that when a billionaire uses their wealth to buy a politician, to influence a government, to own a newspaper or a social media platform, or to out-lawyer any opposition to ensure them impunity from justice, that these actions are inimical to progress and fairness. Such power gives billionaires a grasp over all our futures, undermining political freedom and eroding the rights of the many,» Oxfam said in a release.
«Inequality isn’t going to be solved overnight. At Oxfam, we think that taxing the super-rich is the start of ending this shocking spiral – stopping the super-rich from getting richer and helping to consolidate their power.»
