Coronavirus: New billionaire every 30 hours during ‘bonanza’ pandemic; millions crash into poverty, Oxfam says
- Analysis by the anti-poverty group revealed 573 people reached the 10-figure financial status during the global health crisis, which was ‘a bonanza for them’
- The organisation also noted that this year it expects ‘263 million more people will crash into extreme poverty, at a rate of a million people every 33 hours’
A new billionaire was created every 30 hours during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to a new analysis by Oxfam.
The report, released by the international organisation focused on fighting poverty, said 573 people reached the 10-figure financial status criteria.
By contrast, the organisation also noted that this year it expects “263 million more people will crash into extreme poverty, at a rate of a million people every 33 hours.”
The combined wealth of billionaires worldwide is equivalent to 13.9 per cent of global GDP, according to Oxfam. More than 2,600 billionaires own about US$12.7 trillion, and the world’s richest 20 billionaires are worth more than the entire GDP of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The organisation’s analysis reveals that billionaires and corporations in the food, energy, pharmaceutical and technology sectors raking in some of the most significant wealth.
The financial figures came from Forbes’ billionaire list from March 2020 to March 2022, to analyse the wealth of the richest people around the world.
The release of the information coincided with the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Corporate executives, government officials and some of the wealthiest people in the world are attending the event in person this year after a two-year hiatus because of the pandemic.
“Billionaires are arriving in Davos to celebrate an incredible surge in their fortunes. The pandemic and now the steep increases in food and energy prices have, simply put, been a bonanza for them.
“Meanwhile, decades of progress on extreme poverty are now in reverse and millions of people are facing impossible rises in the cost of simply staying alive,” Gabriela Bucher, executive director of Oxfam International, said in a statement.
India’s wheat export curbs threaten to send global food prices higher
“Prices everywhere are rising – of flour, cooking oil, fuel, electricity,” the analysis reads.
Inflation in the US has hit 40-year highs in recent months, with costs for petrol, food, rent and more surging across the country.
While 2020 and 2021 represented a time of immense growth for the world’s richest people, this year might not have been quite as fruitful.
The top 50 richest individuals have lost more than a half trillion dollars this year through Sunday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, The Wall Street Journal reported. The losses come as the stock market has approached its first bear market since the start of the pandemic.
Stocks rose in morning trading on Wall Street after around 7 weeks of declines.
