UK billionaire numbers rise by 20% since pandemic as cost of living crisis deepens

Rise of Britain’s billionaires dubbed a ‘national disgrace’ by equality charity

“The UK’s record on wealth inequality is appalling,” says equality charities (Getty Images)

The number of billionaires in the UK has risen by 20 per cent since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, new research reveals.

The Equality Trust found that the number of billionaires increased from 147 in 2020 to 177 this year despite the ongoing cost of living crisis, with the average billionaire having around £2bn in wealth.

The equality charity has said the rise of billionaires in Britain is a “national disgrace” and comes as some families are forced to choose between heating and eating because of the soaring cost of gas and electricity.

Jo Wittams, co-executive director of the Equality Trust, said: “The UK’s record on wealth inequality is appalling, grossly unjust, and presents a real threat to our economy and to our society.”

The charity said interventions by the government and banks during the pandemic allowed for an “explosion of billionaire wealth” after interest rates plummeted causing asset prices to rise.

“This sudden explosion in extreme wealth was in large part due to measures aimed at lessening the impact of Covid-19 on the economy, as central banks pumped trillions of dollars into financial markets, leading to a stock market boom which effectively lined the pockets of shareholders,” said Ms Wittams.

“While Covid-19 saw billionaire wealth rise to levels never seen before, the construction of the economic infrastructure that has enabled this mass accumulation stretches back over the last four decades.”

Since 1990, the number of billionaires in the UK had risen by more than ten times from 15 to 177, with their wealth skyrocketing from £53.9bn to more than £653bn.

“This represents an increase in billionaire wealth of over 1,000% over the past 32 years,” the report said.

“Food bank usage continues to increase, 3.9 million children are living in poverty and 6.7m households struggle to heat their homes,” says charity (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Ms Wittams added: “That we have allowed the very richest few to accrue such a staggering amount of the nation’s wealth since 1990 is a national disgrace.

“Every year we are invited to celebrate the very richest individuals and families in the UK, while food bank usage continues to increase, 3.9 million children are living in poverty and 6.7m households struggle to heat their homes. That these are two sides of the same coin is very rarely mentioned.”

The charity is now calling on the government to tax wealth in line with incomes, reform the financial sector and end the UK’s role in tax avoidance.

“Two-thirds of the British public agree that ordinary working people do not get their fair share of the nation’s wealth and it is time the government took action,” the charity added.