In 2025, the wealth of billionaires reached a historic record of $18.3 trillion, according to Oxfam's report. The organization considers such economic power a threat to democracy, writes DW.
The wealth of billionaires worldwide increased by $2.5 trillion in 2025, reaching a new record high, reports the charity organization Oxfam in its annual report published on Monday, January 19. The document coincides with the start of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.
According to the organization, the total wealth of billionaires has grown by 81% since March 2020, reaching an all-time high of $18.3 trillion (€15.8 trillion). As Oxfam notes, Elon Musk, the richest person on the planet, earns in four seconds an amount equivalent to the average annual income worldwide.
At the same time, the report states that nearly half of humanity lives in poverty. They account for only 0.52% of global wealth, while the super-rich one percent holds 43.8%.
"We are living in an age of billionaires – and this is bad news for the world," said Charlotte Becker, chair of Oxfam Germany.
According to her, there is particular concern about the transformation of the economic power of the super-rich into political influence, which undermines democracy.
Becker added that this process and its negative consequences for the entire world are clearly visible in the case of U.S. President Donald Trump, "whose policies favoring the wealthy fuel inequality."
The number of super-rich is growing in Germany
Germany currently ranks fourth in the world in the number of billionaires, according to Oxfam's annual report. In 2025, their number increased by a third: Oxfam counted 172 billionaires in Germany. According to the organization, an average German billionaire earns an amount equivalent to the average annual income in Germany in just one and a half hours, where one-fifth of the population lives in poverty.
Oxfam once again called for stricter and more consistent taxation of the super-rich both in Germany and globally. In particular, the organization described the introduction of a billionaire tax as a measure whose revenue would help in a fairer distribution of resources, combating climate change, and protecting democracy.
