Global CEO Pay Up 50% Since 2019, 56 Times More Than Employees: Report
According to the report, the global average CEO pay rose from an inflation-adjusted $2.9 million per year in 2019 to $4.4 million per year in 2024
A new study by Oxfam highlights the widening gap between executive and worker pay, revealing that the average annual salary for CEOs in India has reached $2 million a year. Globally, CEO pay has surged by 50 per cent in real terms since 2019, while average worker wages have grown by just 0.9 per cent over the same period.
The analysis underscores the stark inequality, noting that billionaires earn more in an hour than the average worker does in an entire year. It also sheds light on persistent gender disparities: while the gender pay gap across 11,366 companies worldwide narrowed slightly from 27 per cent to 22 per cent between 2022 and 2023, women effectively still work unpaid every Friday compared to their male counterparts.
According to the report, the global average CEO pay rose from an inflation-adjusted $2.9 million per year in 2019 to $4.4 million per year in 2024. CEOs in Ireland and Germany were among the highest paid, earning $6.7 million and $4.7 million annually, respectively. In comparison, average CEO pay stood at $2 million in a year in India and $1.6 million in a year in South Africa in 2024.
"Year after year, we see the same grotesque spectacle: CEO pay explodes while workers' wages barely budge. This isn't a glitch in the system -- it's the system working exactly as designed, funnelling wealth ever upwards while millions of working people struggle to afford rent, food and healthcare," Oxfam International executive director Amitabh Behar said.
Global CEO Compensation
Oxfam’s analysis highlights that the surge in global CEO compensation comes amid growing concerns that wages are not keeping pace with the rising cost of living. While the International Labour Organization (ILO) reported a global real wage increase of 2.7 per cent in 2024, wage growth has remained sluggish in many countries. In France, South Africa, and Spain, for instance, real wages rose by just 0.6 per cent last year.
Though global wage inequality has narrowed slightly, it remains alarmingly high, especially in low-income nations, where the richest 10 per cent earn 3.4 times more than the poorest 40 per cent. The report also reveals that billionaires, many of whom fully or partially own major corporations, collectively amassed $206 billion in new wealth over the past year. That equates to $23,500 per hour, exceeding the entire annual average global income of $21,000 in 2023.
Beyond soaring executive pay, the working class now faces another looming threat: sweeping US tariffs. These protectionist measures risk triggering job losses and higher prices for essential goods, potentially worsening global inequality.
"For so many workers worldwide, US President Donald Trump's reckless use of tariffs means a push from one cruel order to another: from the frying pan of destructive neoliberal trade policy to the fire of weaponised tariffs. These policies will not only hurt working families in the US, but especially harm workers trying to escape poverty in some of the world's poorest countries,” Behar said.
Corporations are increasingly being mandated by law to disclose their gender pay gaps—the average difference in earnings between men and women. Oxfam’s analysis of data from the S&P Capital IQ database reveals that, among 11,366 companies across 82 countries that reported such data, the average gender pay gap narrowed modestly from 27 per cent in 2022 to 22 per cent in 2023.
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