As global leaders prepare to meet in Seville for the largest development financing summit in a decade, a new Oxfam report warns that international efforts to eliminate poverty and inequality have not only stalled—they have been actively reversed by a system that prioritizes the fortunes of the ultra-rich. Since 2015, the world’s richest 1 percent have seen their wealth grow by more than $33.9 trillion, with just 3,000 billionaires accounting for $6.5 trillion of that surge.
The findings, released in Oxfam’s new briefing paper From Private Profit to Public Power: Financing Development, Not Oligarchy, paint a stark picture of global economic priorities a decade after the international community committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Instead of closing the gap between rich and poor, wealth has concentrated at the top at record speed, even as global poverty and climate vulnerability persist.
“There is glaring evidence that global development is desperately failing because—as the last decade shows—the interests of a very wealthy few are put over those of everyone else,” said Amitabh Behar, Executive Director of Oxfam International. “Rich countries have put Wall Street in the driver’s seat of global development. It’s a global private finance takeover which has overrun the evidence-backed ways to tackle poverty through public investments and fair taxation.”
According to Oxfam’s analysis, the $33.9 trillion wealth increase enjoyed by the global 1 percent since 2015 would be enough to eliminate annual poverty 22 times over, based on the World Bank’s highest poverty line of $8.30 per day. And yet, more than 3.7 billion people remain in poverty around the world.
“It’s no wonder governments are abysmally off track, be it on fostering decent jobs, gender equality, or ending hunger,” said Behar. “This much wealth concentration is choking efforts to end poverty.”
Between 1995 and 2023, Oxfam reports, global private wealth grew by $342 trillion—eight times more than global public wealth, which rose just $44 trillion in that time. The richest 1 percent now hold 43 percent of the world’s total assets. The wealth held by just 3,000 billionaires is now equivalent to 14.6 percent of global GDP.
The scale of the disparity is matched by an erosion of public wealth and a devastating retreat in public investment. Global public wealth as a share of total wealth has declined over the same period. The development aid needed to combat global poverty, hunger, and disease is disappearing, with G7 nations cutting foreign aid by 28 percent for 2026 compared to 2024—the largest reduction since international aid records began in 1960. Oxfam warns these cuts could result in 2.9 million additional deaths from HIV/AIDS by 2030.
“The world’s richest 1% increased their wealth by more than $33.9 trillion in real terms since 2015,” the report states. “This is more than enough to eliminate annual poverty 22 times over at the World Bank’s highest poverty line of $8.30 a day.”
At the same time, low- and middle-income countries are burdened with debt payments to private creditors, who now hold over half of developing nations’ debt and often impose harsh repayment terms. “The debt crisis is bankrupting governments,” the report warns, noting that 60% of low-income countries are either in or on the edge of debt distress. These countries are often forced to spend more on repaying wealthy lenders than on healthcare or education.
The Oxfam report sharply criticizes what it calls the “Wall Street Consensus”—the dominant paradigm that treats private financial markets and investment banks as the engine of development. It argues that this investor-first model has failed both to deliver meaningful development outcomes and to mobilize significant resources.
“What the World Bank described as a ‘billions to trillions’ paradigm shift has been a boon for wealthy investors—the richest 1% own 43% of global assets—but now faces overwhelming evidence of failure, even according to former champions,” the report notes. “Alarmingly, there is new momentum behind the idea of diverting the little aid that remains to private financial actors.”
In its place, Oxfam is calling for a “public-first” model of development focused on rebuilding public wealth and delivering essential services like education, healthcare, and energy through public investment and fair taxation.
“Trillions of dollars exist to meet the global goals, but they’re locked away in private accounts of the ultra-wealthy,” said Behar. “It’s time we rejected the Wall Street Consensus and instead put the public in the driving seat. Governments should heed widespread demands to tax the rich—and match it with a vision to build public goods from healthcare to energy.”
According to a new global survey cited by Oxfam, 9 out of 10 people support taxing the ultra-rich to finance essential services and climate action. Oxfam calls this a rare moment of overwhelming global consensus in favor of equity.
The report outlines a comprehensive agenda for change:
- Tax the ultra-rich: Support international efforts to tax high-net-worth individuals, including the UN tax convention and Brazil’s G20 initiative.
- Revitalize aid: Reverse cuts and recommit to the 0.7 percent of national income target for official development assistance.
- Reform debt: Establish a fair global debt architecture, including support for a UN debt convention.
- Build new alliances: Support coalitions like the proposed Global Alliance Against Inequality, led by countries such as Brazil, South Africa, Spain, Germany, Norway, and Sierra Leone.
- Invest in public goods: Shift from private to public-led development in key sectors such as energy, transportation, education, and healthcare.
The June 30 International Conference on Financing for Development, hosted by Spain, will bring together representatives from over 190 countries. Oxfam views the summit as a critical opportunity for nations to commit to reversing course and confronting inequality at its root.
“Seville is the first major gathering of countries worldwide at a time that life-saving aid is being decimated, a trade war has started, and multilateralism [is] being fractured—all in the backdrop of the second Trump administration,” said Behar. “It’s a hopeful sign that some governments are banding together to fight inequality—more should follow their lead, starting in Seville.”
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