The world is passing through a profound contradiction where a handful of a few thousand wealthy individuals hold hidden wealth that exceeds the combined assets of half the world’s population.
This is not merely a picture of inequality; it is the story of a global system where separate rules exist for the rich and separate ones for the common person. This is the reality, and Oxfam’s latest report has laid it bare before the world.
The wealthiest 0.1 percent of people in the world have hidden so much wealth abroad to evade taxes that it exceeds the total assets of the world’s poorest half that is, approximately 4.1 billion people.
This makes it clear that poverty in the world exists not due to a shortage of money, but because of the concealment of that money.
While billions of people struggle for access to a decent hospital, a school, and employment, a handful of the world’s richest individuals are stashing their billions of dollars in countries known as ‘tax havens’, in secret accounts. According to the report, in 2024, approximately 3.55 trillion dollars of wealth was hidden through such covert channels. This amount is larger than the entire economy of France and more than double the combined GDP of the world’s 44 most vulnerable countries.
The report notes that nearly 80 percent of all hidden wealth belongs to the richest 0.1 percent alone approximately 2.84 trillion dollars. And even within that, the ‘super rich’ at the very top the 0.01 percent hold a staggering 1.77 trillion dollars concealed. Commenting on this, Oxfam International’s tax expert Christian Hallum said,
“Where the wealthiest hide their fortunes abroad to shield them from taxes and scrutiny ten years have passed and this practice continues unabated.”
According to him, this is not merely a question of tax evasion; it is a question of power and inequality.When billionaires do not pay taxes, the common person bears the direct consequences inequality deepens, and the burden of a system built for a handful of the rich falls upon the shoulders of the poor.
This tax-free wealth hidden abroad still amounts to approximately 3.2 percent of the world’s total GDP. This means the problem is far from over. It is particularly unfortunate that many weak and developing countries remain outside the international mechanisms for exchanging tax information for it is precisely these countries that need tax revenue the most. Against this backdrop, Oxfam has placed three prominent demands before governments worldwide: that strict rules be framed at the global level for taxing the super rich, that international cooperation be strengthened to curb tax havens, and that more effective taxes be levied on the wealthiest one percent, so that growing inequality may be reduced to some extent. The conclusion of the report is entirely clear — money exists in the world, it is simply being hidden. If the wealthiest individuals honestly paid their taxes, governments would never fall short of funds for hospitals, schools, and social programmes.
India’s situation is no different in this regard. Oxfam’s report, published on the occasion of International Labour Day, revealed that in India, what a common worker earns over an entire year, a CEO of a company earns in just four hours. The incomes of approximately one billion workers across 50 countries fell by an average of 56,000 rupees (or 685 dollars), and their real wages suffered a total loss of 61 lakh crore rupees (or 746 billion dollars). The average annual salary of India’s top 150 CEOs was 8.18 crore rupees, which is approximately two percent more than in 2021. Notably, the very corporate owners who on one hand tell their employees that wage cuts are unavoidable, are simultaneously giving generous compensation to their CEOs and shareholders. Oxfam International’s Executive Director Amitabh Behar said,
Source: Global Research
