New wealth of top 1% surges by over $33.9 trillion since 2015 – enough to end poverty 22 times over - Oxfam

The world’s richest one per cent increased their wealth by more than $33.9 trillion in real terms since 2015, according to new Oxfam analysis published ahead of the world’s largest development financing talks in a decade. This is more than enough to eliminate annual poverty 22 times over at the World Bank’s highest poverty line of $8.30 a day. The wealth of just 3,000 billionaires has surged $6.5 trillion in real terms since 2015, and now comprises the equivalent of 14.6 per cent of global GDP.

Oxfam’s new briefing paper, “From Private Profit to Public Power: Financing Development, Not Oligarchy”, coincides with the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development which starts on the 30 June, hosted by Spain in Seville and attended by over 190 countries.

Wealthy governments are making the largest cuts to life-saving development aid since records began in 1960. Oxfam’s paper found that G7 countries alone, who account for around three-quarters of all official aid, are cutting aid by 28 per cent for 2026 compared to 2024. For the UK, aid cuts will amount to 40 per cent by 2027. Meanwhile the debt crisis is bankrupting governments – 60 per cent of low-income countries are at the edge of a debt crisis – with the poorest countries paying out far more to repay their rich creditors than they are able to spend on classrooms, clinics, or tackling the climate crisis. Women and girls are already bearing the brunt of the debt crisis and stand to be disproportionately impacted by aid cuts. Over 3.7 billion people still live in poverty, while it will take another 137 years to achieve gender equality.

Oxfam’s new analysis examines the failures of a decade-long effort by major development actors to recast their mission away from delivering on aid commitments to instead incentivizing and subsidising a greater role for private financial actors to finance development. Oxfam finds the approach has not only mobilized paltry sums, but it has also led to a host of harms, especially in essential sectors like health and education. The analysis also looks at the role of private creditors - who now outpace bilateral donors by five times and account for more than half the debt owed by low and middle-income countries - in exacerbating the debt crisis with their refusal to negotiate and their punitive terms.

Rachel Noble, Senior Policy Adviser at Oxfam, said: “Not only has the UK Government slashed its aid budget, but it is also increasingly talking about putting the City of London and profit seeking private investors in charge of its approaches to tackle poverty and inequality internationally. This is despite growing evidence that the UK’s own private sector development bank has been bankrolling harmful commercial investments in crucial sectors like health and education that are exacerbating inequality and are implicated in serious human rights abuses. This government is in danger of careering way off course on international development if it does not recommit to proven approaches to tackle poverty through public investment and fair taxation.”

What the World Bank described as a “billions to trillions” paradigm shift has been a boon for wealthy investors – the richest one per cent own 43 per cent of global assets – but now faces overwhelming evidence of failure, even according to former champions. Alarmingly, there is new momentum behind the idea of diverting the little aid that remains to private financial actors.

New Oxfam analysis shows that between 1995 and 2023, global private wealth grew by $342 trillion – eight times more than global public wealth, which grew by just $44 trillion. Global public wealth – as a share of total wealth – actually fell between 1995 and 2023. The results of a new global survey show 9 out of 10 people support paying for public services and climate action through taxing the super-rich.

Oxfam is urging governments to rally behind policy and political proposals that offer a change in course by tackling extreme inequality and transforming the development financing system:

• New strategic alliances against inequality. Governments, including the UK, must band together in new coalitions to oppose extreme inequality. Countries such as Brazil, South Africa and Spain are offering leadership to do so internationally. A new ‘Global Alliance Against Inequality’ supported by Germany, Norway, Sierra Leone and others sets an example for nations to back.
• Public-first approach – reject the “Wall Street Consensus”. The UK Government should reject private finance as the silver bullet to funding development, including by stopping further aid diversion to British International Investment and halting investments in privatised, for-profit health and education services. Instead, it should prioritise support for state-led development – to ensure universal high-quality healthcare, education and care services, and enable exploration of publicly-delivered goods in sectors from energy to transportation.
• Total rethink of development financing – tax the ultra-rich, revitalize aid, reform debt architecture, and move beyond GDP indicators. The UK and other Global North donors must urgently reverse catastrophic cuts to lifesaving aid and meet the 0.7 per cent ODA target as minimum, with the necessary levels of dedicated funding to rapidly accelerate progress towards achieving gender equality. The UK must back efforts for a new UN debt convention and implement domestic legislation demanding private creditors take part in debt relief. Vitally, the UK must also support the UN tax convention, building on Brazil’s G20 effort to tax high-net-worth-individuals.

Noble said: “This government promised to rebuild Britain’s reputation on international development, but the story so far has been more aid cuts, privatisation, and blocking meaningful reforms of the global tax and debt architecture. This week’s once-in-a-decade financing for development conference is an opportunity to change tack and show UK support for Global South led initiatives to fight poverty. The government must fairly tax the trillions of pounds that are locked away in the bank accounts of the super-rich and prioritise the fight against inequality, gendered oppression and the climate crisis.”

Ends

Notes to editors

• Oxfam’s media briefing note, “From Private Profit to Public Power: Financing Development, Not Oligarchy” can be downloaded here.
• Oxfam’s analysis of the historic cuts to development aid and their impact on the poorest can be found here. The modelling on HIV/AIDS deaths was published in the Lancet HIV.
• The UK Government owned private sector development bank – British International Investment - has invested hundreds of millions of UK aid backed investments in expensive out-of-reach for-profit private hospitals and clinics. Oxfam’s research on the harmful impacts including cases of patient detentions, denial of emergency care, and COVID-19 profiteering can be found here.
• For a summary of evidence concerning British International Investment’s (BII) role in financing fee-paying private schools see Oxfam’s joint submission to the International Development Committees Inquiry (IDC) on BII here, and the IDC’s own concerns published here. The UN Committee on Economic and Social Rights reported its own concerns regarding the human rights implications of BII’s investments in private health and education providers here
• The study that polled global opinion on taxing the super-rich was commissioned by Greenpeace and Oxfam International. The research was conducted by market research company Dynata in May-June 2025, in Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Kenya, Italy, India, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, the UK and the US. Together, these countries represent close to half the world’s population. See the results here.
• The cost of ending poverty is based on the annual cost of ending poverty in 2024 for one year, for the over 3.7 billion people living below the $8.30 a day poverty line, according to World Bank data. The increase in wealth of the 1 per cent since 2015 would be more than enough to meet this cost 22 times over. Another way of expressing this is that the total amount is more than enough to completely end poverty for 22 years. This is only indicative, as the cost of ending poverty would likely fall over the next 22 years anyway as the numbers living in poverty reduce, and the value of the wealth would increase as it would not be spent all at once. But nevertheless, this comparison indicates the extent to which more wealth, which is being greatly concentrated in the hands of a few, could be directed to ending poverty instead of further inflating the fortunes of the richest. For further information on the calculations see the media briefing paper.
• Oxfam will be hosting a major high-level event together with Club de Madrid, at 7pm on July 1, 2025, in Seville, joined by high-level government representatives on the media briefing note. Journalists are invited to attend and will be prioritized for questions. Please register here.
• An official side event on inequality and tax reform will take place at 2.30pm on July 1, 2025, at the FIBES Exhibition Centre room 20 joined by high-level government representatives from Brazil, Spain and South Africa, international organizations and global experts. See note here.