The richest 1 percent is now wealthier than the rest of global humanity combined, according to Oxfam, which called on governments around the world to intensify efforts in reducing global inequality.
In a report published as a precursor to the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, the anti-poverty charity quoted data from Credit Suisse Group AG in declaring the most affluent controlled most of the world’s wealth in 2015. That’s a year earlier than it had anticipated.
Oxfam equally believes corporate tax avoidance is costing Africa billions. According to a BBC report, Around 16 African billionaires live amongst 350 million people in poverty in the sub-Saharan region of the continent. In regards to Africa, it must be asked what governments will do to maintain and improve the economic situation, whether that is tackling tax evasion or tighter constraints on exporting money into offshore accounts.
Oxfam also concluded that just 62 individuals had the same wealth as 3.5 billion people combined, the bottom half of the global population, compared with 388 individuals five years earlier. The wealth of the most affluent rose 44 percent since 2010 to $1.76 trillion, while the wealth of the bottom half fell 41 percent or just over $1 trillion.
Oxfam is using the statistics analysis to argue against the threat posed by a growing inequality to economic expansion and social cohesion. Those risks have already been noted in countries from the U.S. to Spain, where voters are increasingly backing populist political candidates, while it’s sown tensions on the streets of Latin America and the Middle East.
“It is simply unacceptable that the poorest half of the world’s population owns no more than a few dozen super-rich people who could fit onto one bus,” said Winnie Byanima, executive director of Oxfam International. “World leaders’ concern about the escalating inequality crisis has so far not translated into concrete action.”
Oxfam said governments should take steps to reduce the polarization, estimating tax havens help the rich to hide $7.6 trillion. Politicians should agree on a global approach to ending the practice of using offshore accounts, it said.
Read the full Oxfam report HERE
