Global dividend payments to shareholders grew an average of 14 times faster than worker pay across 31 countries, which together account for 81 per cent of global GDP, over the last three years, analysis from Oxfam published on International Workers’ Day reveals.
In the UK, accounting for inflation, dividends increased by 13 per cent between 2020-2023, while average wages remained stagnant.
It is the latest evidence that the yawning gap between the super-rich and the rest continues to grow. Oxfam analysis from earlier this year found that if current trends continue, the world would see its first trillionaire within a decade.
Global annual corporate dividends are on course to beat an all-time high of $1.66 trillion reached last year, according to the Janus Henderson Global Dividend Index, which covers the world’s largest 1,200 corporations, representing 90 per cent of global dividends paid.
Using data from Wealth-X, Oxfam estimates that the richest 1 per cent, pocketed an average of $9,000 in dividends in 2023. This is equivalent to eight months’ wages for the average worker.
Amitabh Behar, Oxfam International interim Executive Director said “Corporate profits and payouts to rich shareholders have gone into the stratosphere, while wages continue to go nowhere. Millions of people hold jobs that trap them in a cycle of working hard while still unable to afford enough food, medicine or other basics, amassing greater fortunes for the super-rich who profit from their work.”
