"When One Billionaire Emerges, Extreme Poverty Increases by One Million... Inequality Deepens Amid the Pandemic"

Every 33 Hours, One Million People Fall into Extreme Poverty

Tesla CEO Elon Musk. / Photo by AFP Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] An analysis revealed that over the two years since the outbreak of COVID-19, one new billionaire was created every 30 hours worldwide, while the number of people living in extreme poverty increased by one million.

While billionaires struck it rich as food and energy prices surged due to the pandemic, the poor were pushed to the brink of survival amid inflation caused by the aftermath of the Ukraine war.

Recently, CNBC reported that the international relief and development organization Oxfam published a report titled "Profiting from Pain" ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) held in Davos, Switzerland, from the 22nd to the 26th. Since 2014, Oxfam has released annual reports on inequality during the Davos Forum.

According to the report, the number of billionaires, which was only 573 in 2020, has now risen to 2,668. Converted into time units, this means one new billionaire every 30 hours. Their total combined wealth increased from $9.92 trillion in 2020 to $12.7 trillion (approximately 1,610 trillion KRW) as of last March.

The report stated that the wealth accumulated by billionaires over the past two years exceeds the increase seen over the previous 23 years, and their total assets as a share of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose more than fourfold from 4.4% in 2000 to 13.9%.

In particular, the rise in commodity prices led the food and energy sectors to rake in huge profits. The wealth of billionaires working in the food and energy sectors grew by $453 billion (about 573 trillion KRW) over two years. The assets owned by the world's top 10 richest individuals exceeded those held by the bottom 40%, which is 3.1 billion people.

On the other hand, the situation for the poor worsened significantly. Oxfam estimated that 263 million people fell into extreme poverty over two years due to inequality caused by the pandemic and the sharp rise in food prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This equates to one million people falling into extreme poverty every 33 hours.

Furthermore, the report pointed out that pharmaceutical companies, which earned enormous profits from COVID-19 vaccines, monopolized control over the vaccines, resulting in 87% of the population in low-income countries not completing vaccination.