The new Oxfam report, presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos raises the alarm: unprecedented concentration of wealth, increasing poverty and risks for democracy
Inequality reigns supreme in the world: the gap between rich and poor has never been so wide. This is certified by Oxfam’s new annual report, presented as usual on the eve of the World Economic Forum in Davos, scheduled from today to 23 January. As of 2025, twelve billionaires hold more combined wealth than the poorest half of humanity, approximately 4.1 billion people. A concentration of resources unprecedented in modern history. Political, economic and financial leaders meet in the Swiss mountains and the Oxfam report arrives with data and a strong appeal.
Billionaires’ wealth at all-time highs as poverty reduction stalls
According to Oxfam, the total wealth of billionaires in the world reached the record figure of 18,300 billion dollars in 2025, with an increase of approximately 2,500 billion in a single year (+16.2%) and three times higher than the average of the previous five years. From 2020 to today, the real increase in the fortunes of the ultra-rich has been 81%. This is a sum almost equivalent to the wealth held by the poorest half of the global population. The twelve richest people on the planet alone have 2,635 billion dollars. Oxfam speaks openly of an “unprecedented” situation, while one in four people in the world suffer from food insecurity and almost half of the global population lives in poverty. The photograph shows that progress in reducing global poverty has stopped: for six years the rate of decrease has remained substantially unchanged and extreme poverty has started to increase again in Africa.
The paradox, highlighted by the report, is that the wealth accumulated by billionaires would be sufficient to eradicate extreme poverty up to 26 times. Yet, resources remain concentrated and do not produce a proportional improvement in the living conditions of the majority of the world’s population.
Oxfam report: the risks of inequality in the world
In addition to the data, the report raises a double alarm. First, the cuts to international aid decided in 2024 and 2025 could cause further 14 million additional deaths by 2030including millions of children under five. Then there is the political question: today a billionaire is 4 thousand times more likely to hold public office than a common citizen. Economic concentration thus translates into a concentration of influence, which manifests itself both through the financing of electoral campaigns and through the direct or indirect control of institutions. Another risk, highlighted by the report, concerns the media. Oxfam reports that seven of the ten largest global media corporations have billionaire owners. Figures such as Elon Musk (over the threshold of 500 billion in assets), Jeff Bezos and Vincent Bolloré are cited as examples of a concentration that risks compressing the pluralism of information. And the consequences of everything are directly reflected on the quality of democratic systems. In countries with higher levels of inequality, the risk of democratic backsliding is up to seven times greater. Today only three in ten people live in democracies, compared to one in two twenty years ago.
“Economic and political inequalities can accelerate the erosion of people’s rights and security at a frightening rate,” warns Amitabh Behar, executive director of Oxfam. And Roberto Barbieri, general director of Oxfam Italia, speaks of a real “law of the richest”, capable of corroding the citizenship pact and collective trust.
Oxfam’s appeal: get out of the abyss of inequality
The report concludes with an appeal to governments and international institutions. To reverse the trend, Oxfam calls for truly progressive tax reforms, more incisive regulation of large economic groups, investments in public services and the strengthening of workers’ rights. Among the most radical proposals is also a ban on billionaires financing election campaigns. Without a paradigm shift, the organization warns, the extreme concentration of wealth will continue to undermine social cohesion and the very foundations of global democracy.
