...the combined wealth of the bottom 50% of the human population, according to a new report.
The amount of untaxed wealth hidden in offshore tax havens by the world’s richest 0.1% exceeds the collective assets of the poorest 4.1 billion people on Earth, an analysis by Oxfam shows.
The report released on Thursday highlights that a decade after the Panama Papers leak, the global elite continue to utilise a complex international financial system to move immense fortunes beyond the reach of public scrutiny and taxation.
Speaking to Euronews, Christian Hallum, the tax lead at Oxfam, stated that the ultra-rich are still sequestering "oceans of wealth" and warned that this is not merely a matter of clever accounting, but one of "power and impunity".
According to the UK-based global confederation of over 20 independent NGOs, approximately $3.55 trillion (€3.08tn) in private wealth remained untaxed and unreported in offshore accounts.
This sum is nearly equivalent to the entire economy of the UK and is more than double the combined GDP of the world’s 44 least-developed countries.
The concentration of these hidden assets is particularly stark, as the top 0.1% hold roughly 80% of all untaxed offshore funds, representing around $2.84 trillion (€2.47tn).
Within this group, a tiny fraction of the top 0.01% accounts for $1.77 trillion (€1.53tn).
Hallum explained to Euronews that the business model of tax havens remains robust because "ultra-rich individuals have the means to hire wealth managers and accountants to come up with ever-more fanciful ideas for how to evade taxes".