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CEO Pay: According to a new global report released by Oxfam International and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the salaries of the world's top CEOs grew 20 times faster than those of their employees in 2025.

The analysis highlights that while executive compensation saw a rapid increase, millions of workers continued to grapple with escalating costs and minimal wage growth. Researchers found that, over the past year, global CEO salaries rose 20 times faster than those of workers.

CEOs Gain, Workers Lose

In 2025, CEO salaries at the global level increased by 11% in real terms, after adjusting for inflation. In contrast, the real wages of average employees increased by a mere 0.5%. Across 1,500 major companies in 33 large economies, the average CEO salary rose from $7.6 million in 2024 to $8.4 million (approximately ₹70 crore) in 2025.

Between 2019 and 2025, driven by rising inflation, the real wages of workers globally declined by 12%. This is equivalent to employees working for 108 days without receiving any pay. Meanwhile, during this same period, the total compensation of CEOs soared by 54%. The study further notes that in 2025, billionaires earned approximately $2,500 every second through dividends generated by their investment portfolios.

Widest Disparity in the US

This trend was observed most prominently in the United States. Here, the compensation of CEOs at S&P 500 companies witnessed a massive increase of 25.6 percent between 2024 and 2025. In contrast, the hourly wages of workers in private companies in the U.S. rose by only 1.3 percent during the same period. Based on this report by Oxfam and the ITUC, governments are being urged to cap CEO salaries and implement fair taxation on the wealthy in order to reduce this economic inequality.