Oxfam logo
The Future is Equal

Oxfam logo in green

economic inequality

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

  • 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]

Takers not Makers: The unjust poverty and unearned wealth from colonialism

Billionaire wealth has risen three times faster in 2024 than 2023. Five trillionaires are now expected within a decade. Meanwhile, crises of economy, climate and conflict mean the number of people living in poverty has barely changed since 1990. 

Most billionaire wealth is taken, not earned – 60% comes from either inheritance, cronyism and corruption or monopoly power. Our deeply unequal world has a long history of colonial domination which has largely benefited the richest people. The poorest, racialized people, women and marginalized groups have and continue to be systematically exploited at huge human cost. 

Today’s world remains colonial in many ways. The average Belgian has 180 times more voting power in the World Bank than the average Ethiopian. This system still extracts wealth from the Global South to the superrich 1% in the Global North at a rate of US$30million an hour. 

This must be reversed. Reparations must be made to those who were brutally enslaved and colonised. Our modern-day colonial economic system must be made radically more equal to end poverty. The cost should be borne by the richest people who benefit the most.

Read the report here.

Carbon Inequality Kills

The only way to beat climate breakdown and deliver social justice is to radically reduce inequality. This report reveals the catastrophic climate impacts of the richest individuals in the world, and proposes taking urgent action to protect people and the planet.

What little carbon dioxide we can still safely emit is being burned indiscriminately by the superrich. We share new evidence of how the yachts, jets and polluting investments of 50 of the world’s richest billionaires are accelerating the climate crisis. Oxfam’s research shows that the emissions of the world’s super-rich 1% are causing economic losses of trillions of dollars; contributing to huge crop losses; and leading to millions of excess deaths.

As global temperatures continue to rise, risking the lives and livelihoods of people living in poverty and precarity, we must act now to curb the emissions of the super-rich, and make rich polluters pay.

Read the report here.

World’s top 1% own more wealth than 95% of humanity

  • Over a third of world’s biggest 50 corporations —worth $13.3 trillion— now run by a billionaire or has a billionaire as a principal shareholder.
  • Global South countries own just 31 percent of global wealth, despite being home to 79 percent of global population.
  • Oxfam urges multilateral action to advance new global framework on tax, cancel debts and rewrite intellectual property rules for pandemics.

The richest 1 percent have more wealth than the bottom 95 percent of the world’s population put together, new Oxfam analysis of UBS data reveals today ahead of the annual UN High-Level General Debate.

 

Billionaires are exerting new levels of control over economies, with a billionaire either running or the principal shareholder of more than a third of the world’s top 50 corporations. The combined market capitalization of these corporations is $13.3 trillion.

 

Oxfam’s briefing paper “Multilateralism in an Era of Global Oligarchy” warns that multilateral efforts to respond to critical global challenges, including the climate crisis and persistent poverty and inequality, are being undermined by the ultra-wealthy and mega-corporations fueling inequality within and between countries.

 

Despite being home to 79 percent of the world’s population, Global South countries own just 31 percent of global wealth.

 

“The shadow of global oligarchy hangs over this year’s UN General Assembly. The ultra-wealthy and the mega-corporations they control are shaping global rules to serve their interests at the expense of people everywhere. The iconic UN podium is increasingly feeling diminished in a world in which billionaires are calling the shots,” said Amitabh Behar, Oxfam International’s Executive Director.

 

The paper describes a “movement toward a global oligarchy,” where the ultra-rich, often through their increasingly monopolistic corporations, shape global political decision-making and rules to enrich themselves while thwarting vital global progress.

 

The top 1 percent own 43 percent of all global financial assets. Just two corporations control 40 percent of the global seed market. The “big three” US-based asset managers —BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard— hold $20 trillion in assets, close to one-fifth of all investable assets in the world.

 

“While we often hear about great power rivalries undermining multilateralism —it is clear that extreme inequality is playing a massive role. In recent years the ultra-wealthy and powerful corporations have used their vast influence to undermine efforts to solve major global problems such as tackling tax dodging, making Covid-19 vaccines available to the world and canceling the albatross of sovereign debt,” said Behar.

 

Oxfam details three recent examples of extreme inequality eroding multilateral efforts —and where civil society and Global South leaders have offered inequality-busting solutions:

 

  • Powerful corporations undermining tax cooperation. The OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Sharing (BEPS) fell short of realizing its potential, with new rules for profit allocation that will deliver only tiny extra revenues for lower-income countries of as little as 0.026 percent of their GDP. The exclusion of financial services from OECD rules is a carve-out attributed to lobbying from countries with large banking and financial sectors. Global South countries, led by African countries, are instead advancing negotiations for a fairer tax convention at the UN that, along with Brazil’s leadership at the G20, offer a pathway for fairly taxing the super-rich and mega-corporations.
  • Big Pharma resisting efforts to break up their monopolies over Covid-19 vaccine technologies to unlock supply. Monopoly control over vaccine production was highly profitable during the pandemic. In 2021 alone, the seven largest manufacturers generated an estimated $50 billion in net profit from the sale of Covid-19 vaccines, resulting in huge payouts to rich shareholders and the emergence of new vaccine billionaires. The CEO of Pfizer Albert Bourla described the call to share Covid-19 vaccine technologies as “dangerous nonsense.” The failure to equitably share vaccines contributed to as many as 1.3 million excess deaths worldwide. A new pandemic treaty with strong provisions to suspend patents and allow for easier transfers of technology offers promise.
  • Private creditors exacerbating the global debt crisis. Low-income countries spend nearly 40 percent of their annual budgets on debt service, over 60 percent more than they spend on education, health, and social protection combined. Over half of low- and middle-income countries’ external debt is owed to private lenders like banks and hedge funds. Some of these creditors are “vulture funds,” which purchase distressed debt on the cheap and exploit legal mechanisms to be repaid in full, reaping outsized profits.

“Only a solidarity-based multilateralism can reverse the movement toward global oligarchy. Some world leaders are showing they recognize this and are stepping up to fight inequality —but we need many more to demonstrate this courage,” said Behar.

“Ultimately, a fairer world and international order —where corporations pay their fair share, global public health is prioritized, and where all countries can invest in their own people— benefits us all. This is not new, and it’s long what leaders especially from the Global South have called for.” 

 

ENDS

 

Notes to editors

 

Download Oxfam’s briefing paper “Multilateralism in an Era of Global Oligarchy.”.

 

The pandemic has created at least 40 new pharmaceutical billionaires.

 

Oxfam’s recent analysis of more than 180 of the largest US public corporations shows that they collectively spent $746 million on lobbying in 2022, an average of $4.1 million each.

 

Contact information:

Rachel Schaevitz — [email protected]

 

Amitabh Behar named Oxfam International’s Executive Director

Oxfam International is pleased to announce the appointment of Amitabh Behar as its new Executive Director. Behar is a respected global civil society leader, with three decades of experience and extensive work on human rights, economic inequalities, governance accountability, philanthropy, democracy and social justice. He was selected following a competitive recruitment process.

Behar joined Oxfam in April 2018 as the Chief Executive of Oxfam India. More recently, he served as Oxfam International’s Interim Executive Director.

“Behar is a thoughtful and creative feminist leader, with an in-depth understanding of the causes and complexities of poverty, inequality, discrimination and suffering. We are confident in his ability to convene our confederation, alongside our partners, to deliver our vision for a just and equal world,” said Dr. Aruna Rao, the Chair of the Oxfam International Board of Directors.

Behar said: “I embark on this new chapter acutely aware of the global and interconnected challenges we face in our world today. We require urgent action built on new solidarities, new imaginations, and new dreams to deliver a more equal and sustainable future for all.

“Oxfam carries a rich legacy rooted in working with communities while advocating for systemic change. I am eager to channel our collective energies, boldness, resources, and partnerships in support of peoples’ power for the good of majority of the global population.”

Behar has made valuable contributions to Oxfam’s transformation of its own confederation, decolonizing its decision-making and strengthening its collective structure and policies. He has been widely recognized for his work on people-centric advocacy, governance accountability, social and economic equality, and citizen participation.

Prior to Oxfam, Behar was Executive Director of the National Foundation for India and Co-Chair of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty. He has also served as the Vice-Chair of the Board of CIVICUS and the Chair of Navsarjan (Ahmedabad) and President of Yuva in Mumbai. He currently serves on the boards of several other organizations, including the Global Fund for Community Foundation and the Norwegian Human Rights Fund.

Contact: Rachel Schaevitz, [email protected]

Oxfam Reaction to the UN State of Food Security and Nutrition Report 2024

In reaction to the UN’s 2024 edition of “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World” (SOFI) report, which showed that one out of 11 people in the world, and one out of every five in Africa, may have faced hunger in 2023, Eric Munoz, Oxfam’s food policy expert, said:

“Global hunger remains stuck at shamefully high levels, driven by many reasons that together become convenient excuses for our governments to avoid decisive action. We grow enough food to feed people everywhere in the world and there are solutions to eradicate this terrible scourge.

“Countries facing high levels of hunger tend to be poor, highly-indebted, even exploited. They are also the most vulnerable to climate-related and economic shocks. Nearly 28 million people in East Africa are severely hungry because of worsening floods and droughts, conflict and poverty, while Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan struggle under a debt burden of $65 billion. They also need $7.49 billion in humanitarian assistance, but donors have to date met less than 20 percent of this. They are being short-changed at every turn.

“The UN today identifies a hole of trillions of dollars needed to end hunger.  Only bold political action can fill this gap. Private financing can be a partial solution, but runs the risk of increasing inequalities and sidelining local communities. More public funding is required especially into smallholder farmers in poorer countries and stronger social protection schemes, wide-scale debt relief, and for rich countries to meet their humanitarian and climate finance pledges.

“The world’s poorest people are paying the highest price of hunger. We need deeper, structural policy and social change to address all of the drivers of hunger, including economic injustice, climate change and conflict. We support Brazil’s efforts, as part of its G20 presidency, to form the new Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty.”

Contact

Rachel Schaevitz, [email protected]  

Notes:

Copyright © 2024 Oxfam Aotearoa.

Oxfam is a worldwide development organisation that mobilises the power of people against injustice. Oxfam Aotearoa is a registered charity with the New Zealand Charities Register (registration CC24641). Donations are tax refundable.

Site by