$3.55 trillion hidden in offshore havens by richest 0.1%: Oxfam

In a damning revelation marking the 10th anniversary of the Panama Papers, Oxfam has unveiled that the world's richest 0.1% are hoarding $3.55 trillion in untaxed offshore wealth -- a fortune larger than France's GDP and dwarfing the combined assets of the planet's poorest 4.1 billion people.

The report, titled A Tiny Elite, a Staggering Fortune, lays bare a persistent shadow economy where the super-rich evade taxes and scrutiny, even as global reforms falter. Released Thursday ahead of the April 3 anniversary of the 2016 leak of 11.5 million documents from Panamanian firm Mossack Fonseca, it estimates total offshore financial wealth at $13.25 trillion in 2023, or 12.48% of global GDP.

Extreme concentration among ultra-wealthy

The disparity is staggering. Within the top 0.1%, the richest hold about 80% of untaxed offshore assets, totaling $2.84 trillion. The ultra-elite 0.01% control nearly half of that, at $1.77 trillion.

Offshore wealth has actually grown since the Panama Papers spotlighted the issue. However, initiatives like the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI), rolled out from 2016-2017, trimmed its share of global GDP -- a trend that plateaued after 2018.

"When millionaires and billionaires stash trillions of dollars in offshore tax havens, they place themselves above the obligations that bind the rest of society," said Christian Hallum, Oxfam International's Tax Lead. "The consequences are as predictable as they are devastating: we see our public hospitals and schools starved of funds, our social fabric shredded by rising inequality."

Global South bears the brunt

Tax transparency efforts remain lopsided. While 126 countries participate in the Common Reporting Standard, most low- and lower-middle-income nations -- the hardest hit by evasion -- are sidelined. In November 2024, UN member states greenlit terms for a Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, with talks set to run through 2027.

Oxfam demands immediate steps: progressive wealth taxes on the top 1%, a global asset register to monitor billionaire fortunes, robust UN-led tax cooperation, and public registers to expose shell companies and trusts hiding real estate ownership.

"The Panama Papers pulled back the veil on a shadow world where the richest quietly move immense fortunes beyond the reach of taxes and scrutiny. Ten years on, the super-rich are still sequestering oceans of wealth in offshore vaults," Hallum added.

As inequality surges -- with the richest 1% capturing nearly two-thirds of all new wealth since 2020, per prior Oxfam data -- the report underscores the need for systemic overhaul to fund public services and combat poverty.