Oxfam report: Billionaire wealth hits record as Canada’s richest exceed some countries’ GDPs
Oxfam says global billionaire wealth reached US$18.3 trillion in 2025. In Canada the 40 richest hold nearly C$550 billion, more than the GDPs of Chile, South Africa and Finland.
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By Torontoer Staff
A new Oxfam report finds billionaire wealth reached a global record in 2025 and that Canada’s wealthiest now hold sums larger than the economies of several countries. Worldwide billionaire wealth rose by US$2.5 trillion, to US$18.3 trillion, while the number of billionaires topped 3,000 for the first time.
Oxfam released the analysis on Monday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, under the title "Resisting the Rule of the Rich: Protecting Freedom from Billionaire Power." The report ties the growth in fortunes to rising political influence among the ultra-rich and urges policy responses to address widening inequality.
Key global findings
- Global billionaire wealth reached US$18.3 trillion in 2025, a 16 per cent increase year over year.
- The US$2.5 trillion rise would be enough to eliminate extreme poverty 26 times over, according to Oxfam.
- More than 3,000 people were billionaires in 2025, the highest number on record.
- The 12 richest billionaires now hold more wealth than the poorer half of the world’s population, about 4.1 billion people.
- Oxfam says billionaires are over 4,000 times more likely to hold political office than the average person.
The widening gap between the rich and the rest is creating a political deficit that is highly dangerous and unsustainable.
Amitabh Behar, Oxfam executive director
What the numbers mean for Canada
A sister report from Oxfam Canada, The Rise of the Super-Rich: The State of Inequality in Canada, provides national detail. It identifies at least 89 Canadian billionaires and finds the wealth of the country’s 40 richest people grew by more than 20 per cent in 2025, to nearly C$550 billion. Oxfam notes that total exceeds the gross domestic product of countries such as Chile, South Africa and Finland.
Oxfam Canada also estimates the top one per cent, households with a net worth of C$7 million or more, now hold almost C$1.25 trillion in wealth, a sum that approaches the combined wealth of the bottom 80 per cent of Canadians.
That isn’t a narrow wealth gap but a wide, expansive, echoing wealth chasm. When one small group of individuals is able to capture the majority of wealth in a society the negative implications are not just economic, they’re political and social too, and impact all of society.
Oxfam Canada
The report flags social impacts already visible in Canada. Since 2020 poverty has been rising and roughly one quarter of households report food insecurity that forces members to skip meals. Oxfam Canada recommends a federal wealth tax targeting the ultra-rich and stronger measures to curb the use of offshore tax havens.
Policy context and global drivers
Oxfam links the surge in billionaire fortunes to policy choices, including tax cuts and deregulation in some jurisdictions. The analysis highlights rapid gains by U.S. billionaires following policy changes under the Trump administration that began after the 2024 election.
- Oxfam reports billionaire fortunes have grown three times faster annually since November 2024 than in the five years before that.
- Billionaire wealth worldwide has risen by about 81 per cent since 2020, while progress on poverty reduction has stalled.
- The report links concentrated wealth to increased influence over politicians, media and economic levers.
The outsized influence that the super-rich have over our politicians, economies and media has deepened inequality and led us far off track on tackling poverty. Governments should be listening to the needs of the people on things like quality health care, action on climate change and tax fairness.
Amitabh Behar, Oxfam executive director
Oxfam’s reports draw on data from Forbes, Maclean’s, the United Nations and the World Bank. They argue that concentrated wealth can translate into political power that shapes policy in ways that favour elites, and that this dynamic undermines civil and political rights as well as economic opportunity.
What comes next
Oxfam is urging governments to adopt measures such as wealth taxes, tougher rules on tax avoidance and limits on how wealth can translate into political influence. The group frames these steps as necessary to protect democratic freedoms and reverse trends that have left growing numbers of people economically and politically vulnerable.
Being economically poor creates hunger. Being politically poor creates anger.
Amitabh Behar, Oxfam executive director
For Canadians, the report underscores a widening gap between concentrated private fortunes and public needs. Oxfam’s recommendations pose a clear test for policymakers who must weigh tax and regulatory changes against the arguments used to explain recent wealth gains. Absent policy responses, the report warns, economic disparities will continue to shape political life and everyday access to services.
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