Big Companies Earned Over $1 Trillion of Profit in 2022, Says Joint Oxfam and Action Aid Study

A recent study conducted by Oxfam and Action Aid claims that the total windfall profits of the world’s 722 top companies crossed $1 trillion for the second consecutive year in 2022. The study notes that this figure, which is higher than the GDP of a majority of countries in the world, reflects an “obscene” and “immoral” quest for higher profits by the rich, who have exploited the global crisis of energy, food price inflation, and higher interest rates in the last two years. These trends have been caused by multiple factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

As per the study, “windfall profits are defined as those exceeding average profits [earned by the said corporations in the previous four years] in 2017-2020 by more than ten percent.” The study is based on the calculation of data published by Forbes magazine about the world’s top 2,000 companies.

According to the findings, the world’s top 722 companies, which include giants in energy, food, banking, and pharmaceuticals, raked in windfall profits of $1.09 trillion in 2021 and $1.1 trillion in 2022. The study notes that the rates of profits of these companies in 2021 and 2022 were on average 89 percent higher than the average profits made by them in the previous four years.

The study recommends that governments impose a windfall tax on these excessive profits and use the money raised instead for social programs to tackle the cost of living crisis, poverty, hunger, and climate change.