A report by Oxfam International reveals that the United Kingdom extracted an estimated $64.82 trillion from India over 200 years of colonial rule. Of this immense wealth, $33.8 trillion flowed to the wealthiest 10 per cent in the UK. Oxfam further projects that the number of trillionaires will rise to five within the next decade, even as 3.6 billion people continue to live in extreme poverty. Between 1765 and 1900, the extraction of wealth from India primarily benefited the British elite, with the sum of $33.8 trillion being enough to cover London’s streets in £50 notes nearly four times. The report also underscores that modern multinational corporations, such as the East India Company, were birthed during this colonial era, laying the foundations for today’s global economic systems.
In 1750, the Indian subcontinent produced around 25 per cent of the world’s industrial output. By 1900, however, this share had plummeted to just 2 per cent. This drastic decline was largely the result of Britain’s protectionist policies, which targeted Asian textiles and systematically stifled India’s industrial development. At the same time, the British East India Company maintained an army of 260,000 soldiers in India, double the size of the British peacetime army. Through land seizures, violence, and strategic mergers, the Company played a central role in driving globalisation and laying the foundation for the first global financial system. Financial markets in London were key to supporting these colonial giants and their expansive reach.
Independence in many former colonies often resulted in power being transferred to a small local elite that benefitted from the existing colonial structures. In India, for example, in 1875, the highest earners were predominantly European officers in the military and administration. By 1940, however, the wealthiest individuals were largely traders, bankers, and industrialists. Even after independence, wealth and political power remained concentrated among the richest in many Global South nations, with stark divisions between extreme poverty and immense wealth—often marked by electric fences, golf courses, and other physical barriers. The deep inequalities that persist in these countries today are a direct legacy of colonialism.
Inequality continues to widen, with billionaire wealth growing at a pace three times faster in 2024 than the previous year. In 2024 alone, the combined wealth of billionaires surged by $2 trillion, adding 204 new billionaires—an average of nearly four every week. Last year, there was one trillionaire, but Oxfam now predicts there will be five within the next decade. Meanwhile, 3.6 billion people still live below the poverty line of $6.85 a day.
