The world’s largest corporations raised more money than most countries in the world combined collected in taxation last year, a new study by campaign group Global Justice Now has found.
The ten biggest corporations, including Walmart, Apple and Shell, have combined revenue of more than 180 countries in a list that includes Ireland, Indonesia, Greece and South Africa.
The London-based campaign group said the number of corporations in the top 100 economic entities increased to 69 in 2015 from 63 the previous year, showing the growing power of multinational companies.
The top ten largest companies have a whopping combined revenue of $2.9 trillion, which is larger than China's tax revenue.
The US, China, Germany, Japan, France and the UK comprise the top six economic entities followed by Italy, Brazil and Canada.
Walmart ranks as the 10th largest with a revenue of over $482 billion, which is larger than the taxes of Spain, Australia and the Netherlands.
“The vast wealth and power of corporations is at the heart of so many of the world’s problems – like inequality and climate change,” said Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now.
“The drive for short-term profits today seems to trump basic human rights for millions of people on the planet. These figures show the problem is getting worse,” he added.
Global Justice Now said it released the figures in an effort to put increased pressure on the British government ahead of their UN working group, established to draw up a binding treaty to ensure multinational corporations abide by the full range of human rights responsibilities.
“The UK government has facilitated this rise in corporate power – through tax structures, trade deals and even aid programmes that help big business,” said Dearden.
The full list comparing the revenues of countries and corporations can be found here.
On Tuesday, a separate report by Oxfam, found that the richest one per cent of the UK population now owns more than 20 times the total wealth of the poorest fifth, making the country one of the most unequal in the developed world.
The figures suggest that around 634,000 Britons are worth 20 times as much as the poorest 13 million.
A government spokeswoman said: “Work is the best route out of poverty and since 2010 we've made real progress: 2.7 million more people in our country have a job, we've given a pay rise to a million of the lowest paid with the National Living Wage - and we've overhauled the welfare system so it pays to work rather than claim benefits.
“With Theresa May as prime minister, we will do what is needed to keep our economy strong and build a country that works for all of us, not just the privileged few.”
