The COVID-19 pandemic has widened the gap between the rich and the poor! The fortunes of the world's top ten richest people doubled during the pandemic

According to data from Oxfam, a British charity, the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated global economic inequality, with about 99 percent of the world's incomes falling while billionaires' wealth has increased by $5 trillion.

According to data compiled by Forbes, Oxfam said in a new report that the total wealth of billionaires jumped from $8.6 trillion in March 2020 to $13.8 trillion in November 2021, adding more wealth than in the previous 14 years combined. During the pandemic, a new billionaire is born every 26 hours.

The report also shows that the combined wealth of the world's top ten richest people — including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos — has doubled during the pandemic, from $700 billion to $1.5 trillion, six times more than the wealth of the world's poorest 3.1 billion people combined.

At the same time, the vast majority of the world's people have lost incomes during the COVID-19 pandemic, living in worse conditions, and 160 million more people have fallen into poverty.

Advocate for a huge profit tax on the super-rich

Gabriela Bucher, executive director of Oxfam, said in a press release that central banks injected trillions of dollars into financial markets to save the economy during the pandemic, but a large portion of it fell into the pockets of billionaires in the stock market boom.

Oxfam believes governments should tax the gains the super-rich receive during the pandemic and use the proceeds to fund healthcare systems, pay for vaccines, combat discrimination and address the climate crisis.

A 99 percent profiteering tax on wealth added during the global ten-richest people pandemic would raise $812 billion, enough to buy vaccines for the world and finance a variety of social measures in more than 80 countries, the report said.

The report also notes that even after the windfall tax, the world's richest 10 people are still billionaires, and their total wealth will still increase by $8 billion since the outbreak of the epidemic.

"Even if these 10 people lose 99.999 percent of their wealth tomorrow, they're still richer than the 99 percent of the planet." Gabriela Bucher said.

In addition to a one-time windfall tax, the government must also impose or raise permanent wealth and capital taxes to "radically reduce wealth inequality," Oxfam reports.

Notably, at a time when the report comes, the 2022 World Economic Forum video conference will take place this week, where world leaders will discuss global challenges.

According to World Bank estimates, the number of the world's poorest people has risen for the first time in more than 20 years since COVID-19. In 2020, 97 million people worldwide will be pushed into extreme poverty and will live on less than $2 a day.

As the gap between rich and poor widens, the huge wealth of billionaires is "targeted". David Beasley, director of the United Nations World Food Programme, called on billionaires, including Bezos and Musk, to "act now" last November to help tackle world hunger.