While most Aussies are struggling with the ongoing cost of living crisis, it turns out that our Lucky (if you can afford it) Country is home to some of the richest cities in the world. Our national wealth gets a serious boost from the growing population of billionaires living here, with fresh data from anti-poverty non-profit Oxfam revealing exactly how much they earn. Take a deep breath – the results will make your eyes pop.
As everyday Aussies battled through another year of financial uncertainty in 2024, Australia’s billionaire wealth soared more than eight per cent to a staggering $28 billion. To break it down for your boggled minds, that’s $3.2 million per hour (yes, hour!), or a whopping $67,000 per hour for each of the country’s 47 billionaires. And if you’re still processing, that’s 1,300 times more than the average Aussie paycheck and 2,780 times the minimum wage of $24.10.
Oxfam’s global analysis also revealed that total billionaire wealth grew three times faster in 2024 than the previous year, with the richest one per cent now owning a staggering 45 per cent of all global wealth. In Australia, more than a third of this billionaire wealth is inherited, with the report citing “the historic and ongoing impacts of colonialism” as the second biggest driver of wealth accumulation among the nation’s billionaires.
On the flip side, 3.5 billion people are currently living below the World Bank poverty line of $10.52 a day, representing 44 per cent of the global population. Just imagine the wonders that wealth could have if it was used to tackle social issues, including the housing crisis, health inequality and food insecurity. You can dive deeper into Oxfam’s inequality report, Takers Not Makers, here.