Davos, Switzerland—— Billionaire wealth will grow three times faster in 2024 than in the previous year, a top anti-poverty group reported on Monday, as some of the world's political and financial elite prepare for their annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland.

Oxfam International also predicts that there will be at least five trillionaires in the next decade in its latest assessment of global inequality, released on the occasion of the World Economic Forum meeting. A year ago, the organization predicted that only one trillionaire would emerge during this period.

Oxfam's research reinforces outgoing President Joe Biden's warning last week that "power is dangerously concentrated in the hands of a tiny number of the ultra-rich." The group's scathing report, titled Takers Not Creators, also said the number of people living in poverty had barely changed since 1990.

The World Economic Forum is expected to host about 3,000 attendees at its annual meeting in the Alpine village of Davos, including business executives, academics, government officials and civil society leaders.

President-elect Donald Trump, who has visited Davos twice during his first term, is scheduled to be sworn in on Monday and is expected to participate in the forum via video on Thursday. He has long been an advocate of wealth accumulation (including his own) and counts billionaire Elon Musk as a top adviser.

"What you are seeing now is a billionaire president being sworn in today with the support of the richest man. So this is almost the crown jewel of the global oligarchs," said Amitabh Behar, executive director of Oxfam International. In an interview, he said he was referring to Trump and Musk.

"It's not about one particular person. It's an economic system that we've created where billionaires are now able to pretty much set economic policy, social policy, and ultimately bring them more and more profits," he added.

Just as Biden has called for billionaires to "start paying their fair share" through the U.S. tax code, global advocacy group Oxfam is calling on governments to tax the richest to reduce inequality and extreme wealth and "dismantle the new economy." noble".

The group calls for measures such as breaking up monopolies, capping CEO pay and regulating businesses to ensure they pay workers a "living wage".

Many investors saw strong gains in 2024, with strong performance from top tech companies and stock market indexes like the S-Index&500 pesos, as well as the price of gold and cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

Oxfam said billionaire wealth grew by $2 trillion last year, or about $5.7 billion a day, three times faster than in 2023. The number of billionaires rose by 204 to 2,769, with the top 10 richest adding nearly $100 million to their wealth every day, on average, it said.

Citing World Bank data, the group noted lingering poverty, saying the number of people living on less than $6.85 a day had "little changed" since 1990. Oxfam used the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List as of the end of November to obtain data on the ultra-rich.

By comparison, at least four new billionaires will be "born" every week in 2024, and three-fifths of billionaire wealth comes from inheritance, monopoly power or "nepotism."

On average, low- and middle-income countries spend nearly half of their national budgets on debt servicing, Oxfam said. The report also noted that life expectancy in Africa is just under 64 years, while in Europe life expectancy is over 79 years.

Despite the growing gap between the super-rich and the poor, the annual Davos conference, which officially begins on Tuesday, may again this year focus on making money and making deals, with some Western strongman leaders are rising while progressive causes like diversity in the business world and climate change are waning.

The continued rise of artificial intelligence as a tool for businesses to improve efficiency will also once again be a central theme in Davos, despite concerns in many industries that AI could disrupt many white-collar jobs and displace workers across a range of industries.

Trump's re-election is likely to be a talking point for many in Davos, with lingering conflicts including the wars in Ukraine and Sudan and hopes for a continuation of the ceasefire that began on Sunday between Hamas and Israel to pause Its devastating war. The war in Gaza lasted for 15 months.

A survey of 900 experts for the Global Risks Report released last week by forum organizers found that inter-state conflict was the top concern, followed by extreme weather, economic confrontation, misinformation and disinformation, and “Social polarization” – This is a recognition of “social polarization.” The gap between rich and poor.

As in years past, protesters took to the streets calling for greater economic equality, taxes on the wealthy and other pressing demands. Some people blocked roads into Davos, causing traffic chaos in some places and delaying some attendees of the event, which runs until Friday.