Global CEO pay increased by 50 percent since 2019, 56 times more than worker wages

May 1, 2025

Average CEO pay surged by 50 percent in real terms since 2019, while average worker wages increased by just 0.9 percent.
Every hour, billionaires pocket more wealth than the average worker earns in an entire year.
The average gender pay gap in 11,366 corporations worldwide narrowed slightly from 27 percent to 22 percent between 2022 and 2023 ―yet their average female employee still effectively works for free on Fridays, while their average male employee is paid through the week.
Oxfam and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) are calling for higher taxes on the super-rich to invest in people and planet

Average global CEO pay hit $4.3 million in 2024, reveals new analysis from Oxfam ahead of International Workers’ Day (1 May). This is a 50 percent real-term increase from $2.9 million in 2019 (adjusted for inflation) —a rise that far outpaces the real wage growth of the average worker, who saw a 0.9 percent increase over the same five-year period in the countries where CEO pay data is available.

The figures are median averages, based on full executive pay packages, including bonuses and stock options, from nearly 2,000 corporations across 35 countries where CEOs were paid more than $1 million in 2024. The data, analyzed by Oxfam, was sourced from the S&P Capital IQ database, which uses publicly reported company financials.

Ireland and Germany have some of the highest-paid CEOs, earning an average of $6.7 million and $4.7 million a year in 2024 respectively.
Average CEO pay in South Africa was $1.6 million in 2024, while in India, it reached $2 million.

“Year after year, we see the same grotesque spectacle: CEO pay explodes while workers’ wages barely budge. This isn’t a glitch in the system —it’s the system working exactly as designed, funnelling wealth ever upwards while millions of working people struggle to afford rent, food, and healthcare,” said Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar.

Boosts to global CEO pay come as warnings grow that wages are failing to keep pace with the cost of living. While the International Labor Organization (ILO) global reports real wages grew by 2.7 percent in 2024, many workers have seen their wages stagnate. In France, South Africa and Spain for example, real wage growth was just 0.6 percent last year. While wage inequality had decreased globally, it remains very high, particularly in low-income countries, where the share of income of the richest 10 percent is 3.4 times higher than the poorest 40 percent.

Billionaires —who often fully, or in part, own large corporations— pocketed on average $206 billion in new wealth over the last year. This is equivalent to $23,500 an hour, more than the global average income in 2023 ($21,000). Beyond runaway CEO pay, the global working class is now facing a new threat: sweeping US tariffs. These policies pose significant risks for workers worldwide, including job losses and rising costs for basic goods that would stoke extreme inequality everywhere.

“For so many workers worldwide, President Trump’s reckless use of tariffs means a push from one cruel order to another: from the frying pan of destructive neoliberal trade policy to the fire of weaponized tariffs. These policies will not only hurt working families in the US, but especially harm workers trying to escape poverty in some of the world’s poorest countries,” said Behar.

Increasingly, corporations are being required by law to report their gender pay gaps ―the average difference in earnings between women and men. Oxfam’s analysis of the S&P Capital IQ database foundthat among 11,366 corporations across 82 countries that reported gender pay gap data, the average gap narrowed slightly from 27 percent to 22 percent between 2022 and 2023. Yet, on average, women in these corporations still effectively work without pay on Fridays, while their male counterparts are paid for the full week.

Corporations in Japan and South Korea reported some of the highest average gender pay gaps in 2023 (around 40 percent). The average gap in Latin America was 36 percent in 2023, up from 34 percent the previous year. Corporations in Canada, Denmark, Ireland, and the UK reported average pay gaps of 16 percent.

Oxfam’s analysis also found that out of 45,501 corporations across 168 countries, each reporting revenues exceeding $10 million and specifying their CEO’s gender, fewer than 7 percent have a female CEO. “The outrageous pay inequality between CEOs and workers confirms that we lack democracy where it is needed most: at work. Around the world, workers are being denied the basics of life while corporations pocket record profits, dodge taxes and lobby to evade responsibility,” said Luc Triangle, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). “Workers are demanding a New Social Contract that works for them —not the billionaires undermining democracy. Fair taxation, strong public services, living wages and a just transition are not radical demands —they are the foundation of a just society. It’s time to end the billionaire coup against democracy and put people and planet first.”

Oxfam and the ITUC are calling on governments to sustain and accelerate momentum on taxing the super-rich, both nationally and globally. This includes introducing top marginal rates of tax of at least 75 percent on all personal income for the highest earners to discourage sky-high executive pay. Governments must also ensure minimum wages keep up with inflation, and that everyone has the right to unionize, strike and bargain collectively.

Notes to editors
Oxfam’s methodology note is available on request.

According to ILO data, the share of income received by the richest 10 percent is 3.4 times higher than the poorest 40 percent in low-income countries. ILO’s “Global Wage Report 2024-25” and dataset are available online.

Contact information

Rachel Schaevitz, [email protected]

Aid workers describe Gaza as “stuff of nightmares”

April 23, 2025

Restrictions on movement and total siege making aid operations almost impossible

As Gaza enters the eighth week of an Israel-imposed siege, blocking aid, vital supplies and commercial goods, Oxfam staff are describing conditions as the “stuff of nightmares”, with Israel’s mass forced displacement orders spreading terror, Oxfam said.

Israel has issued repeated forced displacement orders to clear out civilian populations from its renewed airstrikes and attacks on Gaza since 18 March, which has left about 70% of the Strip under displacement orders or “no go” zones, affecting more than 500,000 people. Many have been pushed into inhospitable, unsafe and inaccessible areas.

Since 2 March, Israel has allowed no aid or commercial goods to enter Gaza. Many humanitarian agencies have been forced to pause their operations. Oxfam and its partners have not received a single aid truck, food parcel, hygiene kit or any other essential equipment since the siege began. Oxfam’s supplies are nearly exhausted, with only a few water tanks remaining in Gaza City.

Palestinians in Gaza are now emotionally and physically exhausted after 18 months of airstrikes and ground offensives, repeated forced displacement orders and restrictions on basic services since October 7, 2023.

The recent escalations in efforts by Israel to bombard, deprive and displace the Palestinian population of Gaza, sees Oxfam and partner organizations severely restricted and struggling to provide support to civilians, who are facing starvation and relentless violence. 

One Oxfam staff member, who was displaced under fire twice in one week after the forced evacuation of Rafah, said nearly everything had been destroyed. She described the sounds of gunfire at night and people crying in the street, not knowing where to go. Another Oxfam worker said the experiences were “the stuff of nightmares” – people crying for help under piles of rubble, with others desperately trying to flee with injured family members, and others facing a daily struggle to find anything to drink or eat.

Clemence Lagouardat, Oxfam Response Lead in Gaza said: “It’s hard to explain just how terrible things are in Gaza at the moment. Our staff and partners are witnessing scenes of carnage and despair every day. People are in terror, fearing for their lives as displacement orders tell them, with little notice, to move with whatever they can carry.

“The restrictions on internal movement are also making it very difficult to carry out vital, life-saving work. With so many people displaced, the strains on dwindling resources and operational needs are massive. What little aid we have left inside Gaza is hard to get to people living in makeshift shelters and tents when travel is so dangerous.”

Mohammad Nairab, Executive Manager, Palestinian Environmental Friends Association (PEF), one of Oxfam’s partners in Gaza said:

“Since the war resumed many of our teams have been displaced. We have had to continue our work despite the lack of safety, as countless people rely on us for water, especially during these dire times. Nothing could have prepared us for such an unprecedented war. The damage we face—both psychological and physical—is profound and cannot be undone.”

Oxfam says that people are struggling to find safe drinking water, with facilities bombed or unable to operate since Israel cut the last remaining electricity supplies needed to run sanitation facilities. Backup generators are of little use because fuel stores are depleted. The prices of what little food is available have skyrocketed, and many people are at risk of extreme hunger.

Lagouardat said: “We must see an end to this terror and carnage right now, with a lifting of the siege to allow urgent humanitarian aid to reach all of those in need.”

Oxfam is calling for a renewed and permanent ceasefire, the safe return of Israeli hostages and illegally detained Palestinian prisoners, and immediate and unfettered aid access at scale in Gaza. Oxfam reiterates its call for justice and accountability for all those affected. States should stop selling arms to Israel, risking complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Notes to editors

Israel has issued many orders and directives, to people to move into areas it has declared ‘known shelters’, but these have lacked the necessary facilities outlined under international humanitarian law (IHL), which include the provision of proper accommodation, hygiene, health, safety, nutrition and commitments to ensure that families are kept together. IHL provisions on the protection of civilians also guarantee the safety of those who may not be able, or wish, to relocate. Evacuation | How does law protect in war? – Online casebook
Customary IHL Rule 129 and Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 explicitly prohibit an occupying power from deporting or forcibly transferring members of the occupied civilian population, regardless of motive. This provision is a cornerstone of the laws of occupation; it is designed to prevent demographic changes being made by the occupying power to the occupied territory, regardless of any ‘justification’ it may provide for such changes. It underscores the principle that the rights and dignity of the civilian population must be protected, reflecting an occupying power’s obligations to ensure the welfare and security of those under its administration. There are exceptions for evacuation of civilians for their own safety, but only on a temporary basis and where adequate shelter, food, water and access to medical care are provided. This is not the case in Gaza. On 14 April, the UN confirmed in the Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Secretary General, that currently, about 70 per cent of the Gaza Strip is under displacement orders or in “no go” zones, where the Israeli authorities require humanitarian teams to coordinate their movements.
On 15 April, the UN reported that between 18 March and 14 April, the Israeli military issued at least 20 displacement orders, placing about 142.7 square kilometres, or 39 per cent of the Gaza Strip, under active displacement orders. In addition to areas placed under displacement orders, the Israeli authorities have requested the UN to coordinate and notify movements to the “no-go” zone along Gaza’s perimeter and along Wadi Gaza where Israeli forces have re-deployed since 20 March, which makes up about 50 per cent of the Gaza Strip. In total, about 69 per cent of the Gaza Strip is under active displacement orders, within the “no-go” zone or both.

Contact information

[email protected]

“Let us do our jobs” — Major aid groups in Gaza warn aid system is collapsing

April 18, 2025

After 18 months of war, a staggering toll on civilians and aid workers, and now a six-week total siege, the humanitarian aid system in Gaza is facing total collapse with the CEOs of 12 major aid organisations making an urgent plea: let us do our jobs.

A new humanitarian access survey of 43 international and Palestinian aid organisations working in Gaza found nearly all of them – 95% – have had to suspend or dramatically cut services since the ceasefire ended one month ago on 18 March, with widespread and indiscriminate bombing making it extremely dangerous to move around.

The people of Gaza – particularly women and children – are paying the price. Families are living amongst the rubble of their destroyed homes.  Famine is not just a risk, but likely rapidly unfolding in almost all parts of Gaza. The UN has warned the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is the worst it has been in 18 months.

Stripped of the means to keep people alive, hospitals have become morgues. More than 51,000 Palestinians have been reported killed. One of the last partially functioning hospitals, Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in northern Gaza, was bombed last Sunday.

“This is one of the worst humanitarian failures of our generation. Every single person in Gaza is relying on humanitarian aid to survive. That lifeline has been completely cut off since a blockade on all aid supplies was imposed by Israeli authorities on 2 March.

“We have supplies ready. We have trained medical staff. We have the expertise. What we don’t have is the access – or the guarantee by Israeli authorities that our teams can safely do their jobs.

“Survival itself is now slipping out of reach and the humanitarian system is at breaking point,” the CEOs of the 12 aid organisations said in their joint statement.

Twenty-four of the surveyed organisations reported increased movement restrictions in Gaza, impeding their ability to deliver aid. Nineteen aid organisations reported having cargo stuck outside Gaza, totaling at least 9,000 pallets of aid supplies.

Gaza now holds the disastrous record of being the deadliest place on earth for humanitarian workers. We cannot operate under fire or stay silent while our staff are killed.

More than 400 aid workers and over 1,300 health workers have been reported killed in Gaza since October 2023, despite the requirement under international humanitarian law for humanitarian workers to be protected.  

The recent killing of 15 Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers, whose bodies were found buried in a mass grave triggered global outrage, but many violations and attacks go unreported.

Despite hopes that the eight-week pause in hostilities would become a turning point, the violence against civilians and aid workers has only worsened. Since Israeli forces resumed bombardments, at least 14 organisations reported Israeli fire directly or indirectly hitting their staff or aid facilities.

Every day, aid workers – the majority of whom are Palestinian – are targeted, detained, obstructed or killed. Just as every day, rules meant to protect civilians in war are ignored with impunity.  When our staff and partners, our convoys, our offices, our warehouses are shelled, the message is loud and clear: even lifesaving aid is no longer protected.

This is unacceptable.

Meanwhile, Israeli authorities have proposed a new authorisation mechanism for the delivery of aid in Gaza that the UN Secretary-General has described as “limiting aid down to the last calorie and grain of flour.” This mechanism would set a dangerous new global precedent and eliminate any remaining space to deliver aid independent of military and political motivations. New NGO visa and registration rules, based on vague criteria, will censor humanitarian reporting and prevent us from fulfilling our mandate. 

We call on all parties to guarantee the safety of our staff and to allow the safe, unfettered access of aid into and across Gaza through all entry points, and for world leaders to oppose further restrictions.

We call for the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure including hospitals, schools and shelters and the immediate restoration of basic services – water, electricity, and sanitation as required under international law.

We call for the release of the hostages.

We call for the release of all Palestinians arbitrarily detained.

We call, yet again, resoundingly, for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.

Humanitarian aid must never be used as a political tool. Saving lives should not be controversial. Laws of war developed over centuries to govern conduct and protect civilians should not now be discarded.

Let us do our jobs.

INGER ASHING, CEO, Save the Children International

AMITABH BEHAR, Executive Director, Oxfam International

SEAN CARROLL, President and CEO, Anera

STEVE CUTTS, interim Chief Executive Officer, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)

NICOLAS DOTTA, CEO, Médecins du Monde Spain

JAN EGELAND, Secretary General, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)

REENA GHELANI, CEO, Plan International

MANUEL PATROUILLARD, Managing Director, Humanity & Inclusion – Handicap International

MORGANE ROUSSEAU, CEO, Médecins du Monde Switzerland

REINTJE VAN HAERINGEN, Chair – Executive Committee, CARE International

JOEL WEILER, CEO, Médecins du Monde France

ROB WILLIAMS, CEO, War Child Alliance

Notes to editors

A new survey of 43 international and Palestinian NGOs working in the Gaza Strip found that 95% of them had either suspended or reduced their services in Gaza since the resumption of bombardment by Israeli forces.
The survey also found that at least 17 NGOs reported delays or denials even during the ceasefire (before the renewed siege on 2 March).
Seven surveyed NGOs reported Israeli fire directly or indirectly hitting their staff or aid facilities.
According to the survey, at least 19 NGOs report having cargo waiting outside of Gaza for entry, including at least 8,881 pallets of aid stuck in Jordan, Egypt, the West Bank and Israel including: supplies for psychosocial support, bedding, hygiene items, hot meal ingredients, school supplies, tents, fire extinguishers, and medicines.
At least 412 aid workers have been reported killed in Gaza since October 2023, as of 9 April. According to the Aid Worker Security Database, at least 61 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since 1 January 2025.

Contact information

[email protected]

Oxfam reaction to OECD preliminary data on aid spending in 2024

April 16, 2025

In response to the publication today of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) preliminary data on Official Development Assistance (ODA) for 2024, Oxfam International’s Aid Policy Lead Salvatore Nocerino said:

“Today’s figures lay bare an ugly truth: even before this year’s devastating cuts to aid, rich countries had already begun to renege on their moral obligations to the world’s most vulnerable communities. Not only had they been reducing aid, but also spending a significant share of it within their own borders to cover refugee costs.

“Only a handful of countries, including Luxembourg, New Zealand, Spain and South Korea, maintained or increased their aid budgets in 2024, and are expected to do the same this year.”

“New Zealand’s good standing in these latest OECD figures owes a lot to to our climate finance commitments,” said Oxfam Aotearoa’s Clinate Justice Lead Nick Henry.

Henry continues, “New Zealand has taken a world leading approach by providing all our funding for climate action as grants rather than loans. But with the climate finance commitment running out at the end of this year, the government needs to renew this essential lifeline for our Pacific neighbours.”

Nocerino insists, “If governments keep slashing aid, more children will go to bed hungry, more people will die from diseases we’ve long known how to prevent, and millions more will be pushed even deeper into poverty.

“Governments must urgently reverse these cuts and start taxing the super-rich, whose wealth has grown unchecked. In a world as interconnected as ours, diseases and climate disasters know no borders. These cuts are reckless and short-sighted, and will drive us all towards greater harm.”

Notes to editors

The OECD’s preliminary data shows that ODA totalled $212 billion in 2024, a significant drop from $223 billion in 2023. Last year’s ODA fell $237 billion short of meeting the longstanding commitment of allocating 0.7 percent of gross national income (GNI) to aid for low- and middle-income countries. Oxfam has calculated that in the 54 years since this promise was made, rich countries have failed to deliver a total of $7.5 trillion in aid.

In 2024, 13.1 percent was spent on domestic refugee reception.

According to Forbes’ 39th Annual World’s Billionaire List published on 1 April, billionaires are worth a record $16.1 trillion, $2 trillion more than in 2024.

Contact information

Rachel Schaevitz at [email protected]

Sudan: Two years into the conflict, the world’s largest humanitarian crisis now threatens regional stability

April 15, 2025

Upcoming rains and aid cuts could further hamper humanitarian efforts and push millions of people to famine

As Sudan’s conflict enters its third year, massive displacement and fighting are spilling over into neighbouring countries, worsening the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis. The looming rainy season, combined with aid cuts by the US and other key donors, will severely hamper humanitarian efforts putting millions of lives at risk, a new Oxfam report warned today.

Sudan’s brutal conflict has created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. More than 12.7 million people —nearly one-third of the population— have been forced to flee their homes, including 3.7 million to neighbouring countries. One in two Sudanese is hungry. Five areas in the country are already experiencing famine, and nearly eight million more people are at risk of starvation.

The upcoming rains could turn roads to mud, and trigger the collapse of vital bridges, cutting off entire areas and communities from essential aid and services. This period coincides with the annual lean season when food insecurity already peaks.

The Oxfam report –The Unravelling of the World’s Largest Humanitarian Disaster: From the Sahel to the Red Sea – published jointly with humanitarian organisations responding to the Sudan crisis, highlights the staggering human cost of the Sudan conflict. It warns that the crisis is now spilling over neighbouring South Sudan and Chad, where humanitarian needs are already dire.

Fati N’Zi-Hassane, Oxfam in Africa Director, said:

“We are already witnessing clashes between armed groups from South Sudan and Sudan. This volatile situation is simmering like a volcano ready to erupt any minute. Unless the fighting stops and the humanitarian crisis is addressed, the situation could quickly turn into a full-blown regional catastrophe.”

Two of the host countries, South Sudan and Chad, are already among the world’s poorest countries. They grapple with ongoing conflict, food insecurity, and climate shocks, leaving them ill-equipped to manage the crisis.

In South Sudan, the arrival of people fleeing Sudan’s conflict has put more pressure on already scarce resources, which is deepening local tensions and threatening the fragile peace South Sudan has struggled to maintain.

Nadia, a mother of five-year-old son Ismail who fled and is now sheltering in Renk, South Sudan, after soldiers killed her husband and two children says: “The war took everything. We left with nothing but the clothes on our backs. Here, we are safe from bullets, but there is no food, we are dying of hunger.”

The report also found that 17 million children in Sudan are out of school, while 65 percent of refugee children in Chad lack access to education — heightening risks of child labour, marriage, trafficking, and recruitment by armed groups.

For the first time in the history of modern humanitarian response, a single country –Sudan – reaches over 30 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. Yet, despite the rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis, international support is falling severely short. Only 10 percent of this year’s UN appeal for Sudan has been met to date.

The recent suspension of approximately $64 million USAID funding for Chad and South Sudan in 2025 has also dealt a severe blow to lifesaving efforts. In 2024, the U.S. was the largest donor to both countries.

“Turning a blind eye to this crisis would not only be a profound political and moral failure, but a failure of our core humanity. Without immediate injection of funds, millions of people will simply die of starvation or disease,” added N’Zi-Hassane.

The report urges all warring parties to halt fighting and prioritize diplomacy, in order to forge an immediate and lasting ceasefire.

Note to editors

Read “The Unravelling of the World’s Largest Humanitarian Disaster: From the Sahel to the Red Sea”. The report is jointly endorsed by Sudan and South Sudan Forum, Inter Agency Working group (IAWG) for East and central Africa and Forum des ONG en Afrique de l’Ouest et centrale (FONGI)
Oxfam is supporting 150,000 people fleeing the conflict to Renk, South Sudan, and has reached 94,562 refugees in the Eastern part of Chad with lifesaving clean water, hygiene facilities and cash.
Sudan currently accounts for 1 in 8 internally displaced persons (IDPs) worldwide and 1 in 13 refugees globally, making it the world’s largest displacement crisis.
Sudan war has left 4.8 million people across neighbouring countries (Egypt, Libya, South Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia and Uganda) in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. This is up from 1.8 million in mid-2023, more than the double.
Despite funding needs, only a third of the Regional Refugee Response Plan was met last year.
In South Sudan, the number of people needing assistance has more than doubled over the past decade—from 4.1 million in 2015 to 9 million in 2025 while in Chad, one in three people – about 7 million people need assistance in 2025.
The UN appeal for Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan for 2025 was US$ 434.5 million. Only 10 percent of this amount has been funded according to the UNOCHA Financial Tracking Service portal.
Approximately $64 million USAID funding for Chad and South Sudan in 2025 has been cut. Source: The Center for Global Development.
In December 2024, the Famine Review Committee (FRC) classified a Famine (IPC Phase 5) in five areas in Sudan: Zamzam, Abu Shouk and Al Salam camps in Al Fasher locality and in the Western Nuba Mountains. It also projected that Famine would expand to five additional areas by May 2025.

CONTACT

Spokespeople are available for interviews. For more information, contact:

Rachel Schaevitz at [email protected]

Sudan crisis, two years on

April 15, 2025