Overview
- Billionaire fortunes grew by about $2.5 trillion in 2025, roughly 16%, three times the pace of the previous five years.
- Since March 2020, billionaire wealth is up around 81% in inflation-adjusted terms, an increase of approximately $8.2 trillion.
- The twelve richest individuals now hold more wealth than the poorer half of humanity, while roughly 3.8–4.1 billion people live on less than $8.30 a day.
- Germany’s billionaire count rose by one third to 172 in 2025 with combined wealth of $840.2 billion, placing the country fourth by count.
- Citing growing political sway through campaign financing and media ownership, Oxfam urges heavier taxes and stronger antitrust enforcement, including a 2% wealth tax on multimillionaires in Germany.