Globally, the 722 largest companies are making windfall profits of more than $1 trillion (£780 billion) a year, despite the rising cost of living and inflation.
These profits resulted from “rising energy prices and rising interest rates”. Guardian The report cited research by Vikas Dan.
Based on an analysis by the charities Oxfam and ActionAid of the Forbes Global 2000 rankings, these companies are expected to make $1.08 trillion in 2021 and $1.09 trillion last year.
The collective returns of these two years exceeded the average of the last four years – covering 2017-2020 – by 89%.
“For this analysis, windfall profits are defined as more than 10% above average profits over 2017-2020,” said a press release from Oxfam International.
According to the press release, energy companies reported the highest windfall gains.
45 energy companies operational forbes The research states that List made an average windfall of $237 billion per year in 2021 and 2022.
It further said that the rise in energy profits has created 96 energy billionaires – with a net worth of around $432 billion, which is almost $50 billion more than in April last year.
In addition, increased profits were also reported by food and beverage corporations, pharmaceutical companies, banks and retailers, despite the fact that more than a billion people in 58 countries are expected to experience acute food insecurity in 2022.
Given these exorbitant profits, accusations of “greed inflation” have risen.
Oxfam’s press release states, “There is growing evidence that corporate profiteering is playing a significant role in supercharging inflation, fueling fears that corporations may be increasing the cost of living to increase profit margins.” Taking advantage of the crisis – what’s called greed inflation.”
According to the press release, the analysis found:
- 18 food and beverage corporations to average windfall profits of nearly $14 billion per year in 2021 and 2022 – more than double the $6.4 billion funding gap needed to provide life-saving food aid in East Africa enough for.
- The 28 pharmaceutical corporations made an average of $47 billion in windfall profits annually, and the 42 major retailers and supermarkets made an average of $28 billion in profits.
- Nine aerospace and defense corporations make windfall profits of an average of $8 billion per year, while 9,000 people die of hunger every day, most of them due to conflict and war.
Oxfam’s head of advocacy, Katy Chakraborty, said: “These surprising extra benefits are not only unethical.
“We are also seeing growing evidence that corporate bonuses are outpacing inflation, leaving millions of people in the UK and around the world struggling to pay their bills and feed their families.
“When windfall profits from 18 food and beverage corporations more than double the amount needed to bridge the shortfall in life-saving aid to the millions facing hunger in East Africa, it is clear that governments need to act. Is.
“We need to implement windfall taxes across the board and end this racket, where wealthy shareholders are rewarded at the expense of everyone else.”
