The 3.8 billion people who make up the poorest half of the world saw their wealth decline by 11 per cent last year while billionaires’ fortunes rose 12 per cent – or $2.5 billion a day, an Oxfam report published today (21/01/2019) has revealed.

Public Good or Private Wealth? describes how decades of progress in reducing global poverty has slowed and is being hampered by the growing gap between rich and poor. The report, published as political and business leaders gather in Davos for the World Economic Forum, finds that 26 people now own the same wealth as the poorest half of the world – down from 43 in 2017.