Australia’s 47 billionaires take home on average $67,000 an hour, over 1300 times more than the average Australian, new Oxfam analysis reveals, as the anti-poverty organisation calls for the major parties to tax the fortunes of the super-rich to tackle rampant inequality.
Data crunching also revealed that in 2024 Australian billionaire wealth rose by more than 8% or $28 billion, at a staggering rate of $3.2 million per hour. Meanwhile, everyday Australians face another year of financial uncertainty as the cost of living crisis drags into another year.
Oxfam analysis also found that globally:
- Total billionaire wealth grew by $3 trillion last year, equivalent to roughly $8.4 billion a day, at a rate three times faster than the year before. This is the second largest annual increase in billionaire wealth since records began.
- The wealth of the world’s 10 richest people – all men – grew, on average, by over $150 million a day. Even if they lost 99% of their wealth overnight, they would still wake up as billionaires.
- The richest 1% in the Global North extracted $46.1 million an hour through financial systems from the Global South in 2023, further increasing and entrenching deep inequality between nations.
- 3.5 billion people today live under the World Bank poverty line of $10.52 a day, representing 44% of humanity. Meanwhile, the world’s richest 1% own 45% of all global wealth.
Last year, Oxfam predicted the emergence of the first trillionaire within a decade. However, with billionaire wealth accelerating at a faster pace, this projection has been adjusted significantly - the world is now on track to see at least five trillionaires within that timeframe.
Oxfam’s new inequality report Takers Not Makers is being launched today, as business elites gather in the Swiss resort town of Davos, and billionaire Donald Trump, backed by the world’s richest man Elon Musk, is inaugurated as President of the United States.
“The capture of our global economy by a privileged few has reached heights once considered unimaginable. The shameful failure to stop billionaires hoarding their wealth will soon result in the spawning of trillionaires. Not only has the rate of billionaire wealth accumulation accelerated —by three times in the past year alone— but so too has their power,” said Oxfam Australia Chief Executive Lyn Morgain.
“The crown jewel of this oligarchy is a billionaire president, backed and bought by the world’s richest man Elon Musk, running the world’s largest economy. We present this report as a stark wake up-call that the futures of the vast majority of the global population are being crushed by the enormous wealth of a tiny few,” said Ms Morgain.
The report also shines a light on how billionaire wealth is largely unearned. Inheritance and the historic and ongoing impacts of colonialism stand as two major drivers of billionaire wealth accumulation. In Australia, 35% of billionaire wealth is inherited, and the impacts of colonialism’s deeply harmful and divisive racist legacy can be seen here today, where a third of the First Nations peoples are in the poorest 20% of the population.
“Because billionaire wealth is often rooted in unearned privilege, much of it tied to intergenerational advantage and colonial powers, much of it goes effectively untaxed,” said Ms Morgain.
“Meanwhile, money desperately needed in Australia and abroad to tackle social issues such as access to housing and to respond to worsening humanitarian emergencies, is being siphoned off to the bank accounts of the super-rich. This is not just bad for the economy—it’s bad for humanity.
“As the Federal Election looms, it’s critical that our political leaders take bold steps to ensure the super-rich pay their fair share of taxes, so we can fund essential services like healthcare, education, and climate action—and build a fairer society for all,” said Ms Morgain.
Oxfam is calling on the Australian government to take urgent action to ensure that Australia’s richest individuals and corporations pay their fair share of tax. This is essential to reducing inequality, addressing extreme wealth, and funding essential services. This could include:
- Implementing a wealth tax on Australian billionaires and the super-rich.
- Implementing a permanent crisis profits tax on big corporations, so that when crises hit, corporations can’t profiteer as they did during the pandemic.
For interviews, contact Lucy Brown on [email protected] or 0478 190 099
Notes to editors
Download Oxfam’s report “Takers not Makers” and the methodology note.
All figures are in AUD.
Australian earnings data is taken from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
According to findings from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, a third of the First Nations peoples are in the poorest 20% of the population and earn on average 72% of what non-First Nations Australians do.
According to the World Bank, the actual number of people living on less than $10.52 a day has barely changed since 1990.
Forbes data indicates that the largest annual increase in billionaire wealth $8.9 trillion occurred in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was driven largely by governments injecting trillions of dollars into the economy.
According to UBS, more than 1,000 billionaires are expected to pass $8 trillion to their heirs over the next 20 to 30 years.