Oxfam Report: 50 Richest Brits Hold More Wealth Than 33 Million People

A stark new report from Oxfam has laid bare the extreme scale of wealth inequality in the United Kingdom. The findings, published on 19 January 2026, reveal that just over 50 British individuals now possess more combined wealth than nearly half of the entire UK population, approximately 33 million people.

The Staggering Scale of Inequality

While the fortunes of the UK's super-rich grew by an astonishing £11 billion in a single year, the report highlights that one in five Britons are living in poverty. Tens of millions are struggling with energy, food, or housing insecurity, often facing all three simultaneously. Dale Vince OBE, the founder of green energy firm Ecotricity, writing for the Mirror, argues this poverty is not just a personal crisis but a major drag on the national economy, inflating costs for social security, policing, and the NHS.

"It doesn't have to be this way," Vince states. "There is no shortage of money in our country it's just unevenly shared." He points out that the hyper-wealthy do not outperform the poorest to a degree that justifies the current, stunning wealth gap.

A Tax System Skewed in Favour of Wealth

Vince identifies the UK's tax structure as a core driver of this disparity. He criticises the system for taxing income from work at nearly double the rate of income from wealth. Income tax applies to earnings from employment, while Capital Gains Tax covers profits from assets and investments, typically benefiting those already well-off.

The green entrepreneur proposes a straightforward solution: equalising the rates of income tax and capital gains tax. This single move, he estimates, could raise around £12 billion annually for the public purse.

The Case for a Wealth Tax

Vince advocates going further by introducing a progressive wealth tax. A modest levy of 2% on all wealth above £10 million would affect only around 20,000 people but could generate a further £26 billion every year. This combined £38 billion, he argues, could be transformative, used to "fill fiscal potholes" and properly fund vital services like the National Health Service.

"Our tax system takes too little from those with far more than they need and takes too much from those that don't have enough," Vince concludes. He asserts that the current rules were "written by people with money for people with money" and that reforming them is in the interest of everyone, rich and poor, to build a better country.

The report underscores its point by listing the UK's ten richest billionaires, based on Forbes data: