Billionaires, whose wealth saw record growth in 2025, are 4,000 times more prone to hold political office than unusual residents, in keeping with a world Oxfam report released Tuesday, coinciding with the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Within the report titled “Resisting the Rule of the Wealthy: Protecting Freedom from Billionaire Power,” Oxfam said that 11% of the world’s billionaires had either held or sought political office in 2023, making them 4,000 times more prone to occupy political positions than average residents.
Oxfam warned that this extreme concentration of political power is “hollowing out democracies, weakening public institutions, and driving growing anger and unrest worldwide, including within the Philippines.”
The organization noted that billionaires’ increased political participation coincides with their record-breaking wealth.
In 2025 alone, the wealth of the world’s billionaires grew by greater than 16%, or US $18.3 trillion, Oxfam said, marking a growth rate 3 times faster than the typical of the previous five years. The variety of billionaires worldwide also surpassed 3,000 for the primary time.
This surge comes amid persistent global inequality, with nearly half of the world’s population living in poverty, Oxfam said.
“The widening gap between the wealthy and the remainder is making a political deficit that is very dangerous and unsustainable,” Amitabh Behar, Oxfam International executive director, said in an announcement.
“Governments are making improper selections to pander to the elite, defending wealth while repressing people’s rights and fueling anger as many struggle with unaffordable and unbearable living conditions.”
The report also cited the World Values Survey, which found that nearly half of respondents across 66 countries consider that wealthy people often buy elections of their countries.
Within the Philippines, Oxfam highlighted that recent corruption in flood control projects has worsened income inequality.
The country stays the fifteenth most unequal globally and among the many Southeast Asian nations with the starkest wealth divide, the report said.
“Filipinos are witnessing inequality develop into a matter of life and death when corruption diverts billions meant for flood control, while the rich amass record fortunes,” Maria Rosario “Lot” Felizco, Oxfam Pilipinas executive director, told BusinessWorld in a text message.
“We cannot let wealth and greed capture our democracy and determine who gets protected and who’s abandoned during disasters,” she added.
Meanwhile, Oxfam Pilipinas policy advocacy and communications manager Mai Lagman told BusinessWorld in a phone interview that an area report detailing billionaires’ political influence within the Philippines is ready to be released soon.
Oxfam urged governments to regulate the political power of utmost wealth by implementing realistic, time-bound national inequality reduction plans, effectively taxing the super-rich, enforcing stronger firewalls between wealth and politics, and ensuring accountability for the political empowerment of unusual residents.
Oxfam International is a world confederation of over 20 organizations working in over 70 countries to fight poverty, reduce inequality, and promote social justice.— Edg Adrian A. Eva