Davos, Jan 24 : The United Kingdom extracted $64.82 trillion from India during its colonial rule between 1765 and 1900, with more than half of that wealth, $33.8 trillion, going to the richest 10 per cent, Oxfam International said in its latest global inequality report.
“This would be enough to carpet the surface area of London in British pound 50 notes almost four times over,” the report said.
Released on Monday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the report, titled Takers, not Makers, highlighted the immense financial and structural inequalities resulting from colonialism and their lingering impact on the modern world.
Oxfam found that, beyond the wealthiest 10 per cent, the newly emergent middle class in the UK also benefited significantly from colonialism, receiving 32 per cent of the wealth extracted from India.
“In the UK, a significant number of the richest people today trace their family wealth back to slavery and colonialism, specifically the compensation paid to rich enslavers when slavery was abolished,” the report stated.
India’s share of global industrial output fell dramatically from 25 per cent in 1750 to just 2 per cent by 1900. Oxfam attributed this sharp decline to Britain’s protectionist policies, which stifled India’s industrial growth by undermining its textile industry.
Paradoxically, World War I disrupted colonial trade patterns and temporarily catalyzed industrial growth in colonies. “Regions with significant decreases in British imports during the war demonstrated enhanced industrial employment growth,” Oxfam noted.
Modern multinational corporations, according to Oxfam, are a legacy of colonialism, pioneered by entities like the East India Company.
“These corporations engaged in land dispossession, violence, and mergers and acquisitions, driving globalization and contributing to the creation of the world’s first global financial system,” Oxfam said. Today, these companies often exploit workers in the Global South while generating profits for shareholders in the Global North.
The report emphasized stark disparities in wages, noting that workers in the Global South earn 87–95 per cent less than their counterparts in the Global North for equally skilled work. Post-independence, wealth and political power remained concentrated among the richest in the Global South, perpetuating inequality.
British colonial policies formalized and reinforced India’s caste system, further entrenching social divisions. Additionally, the British monopoly on opium production in India contributed to the empire’s revenue but left a legacy of exploitation, with poppy-growing areas suffering from inadequate public services and lower literacy rates even today.
