A new report by Oxfam International, titled ‘Takers, Not Makers,’ reveals staggering figures on wealth extracted from India by Britain during the colonial era, claiming that $64.82 trillion was taken between 1765 and 1900. Of this, $33.8 trillion, which is more than half of the total wealth, adjusted for today’s value, is said to have enriched the UK’s richest 10%.
Released at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, the report pointed out colonialism’s lasting impact on inequality and economic systems. “Legacies of inequality and pathologies of plunder, pioneered during the time of historical colonialism, continue to shape modern lives,” Oxfam said.
The report also specified that colonial practices perpetuated systemic wealth extraction from the Global South to the Global North, benefiting a select elite. “This has created a deeply unequal world, a world torn apart by division based on racism, a world that continues to systematically extract wealth from the Global South to primarily benefit the richest people in the Global North,” the report said.
Wealth extraction from India
Oxfam calculated that the wealth extracted from India alone by Britain could carpet London’s surface area in £50 currency notes nearly four times. “This would be enough to carpet the surface area of London in British pound 50 notes almost four times over,” the report mentioned.
The wealth extraction, Oxfam claimed, not only enriched the wealthiest 10% but also majorly benefited Britain’s emerging middle class, which received 32% of this income.
Impact on India’s economy and society
The report details how India’s share of global industrial output dropped precipitously from 25% in 1750 to just 2% by 1900, primarily due to Britain’s protectionist policies targeting Asian textiles. “This dramatic reduction can be attributed to Britain’s implementation of stringent protectionist policies against Asian textiles, which systematically undermined India’s industrial growth potential,” the report added.
During World War I, disruptions in colonial trade patterns inadvertently stimulated industrial growth in colonies, disclosing how external shocks temporarily alleviated colonial suppression.
Multinational and colonial exploitation
Oxfam also linked modern multinational corporations to colonial practices, tracing their origins to entities like the British East India Company. “The concept of private multinational corporations, bankrolled by rich shareholders, was a product of the colonial era,” Oxfam stated, adding that these corporations employed private armies to suppress resistance.
The East India Company alone had an army of 260,000 soldiers, double the size of Britain’s peacetime army, who engaged in land dispossession and violent repression.
Continuing Inequities
The report highlighted modern parallels, stating that wages in the Global South are 87–95% lower than for equivalent work in the Global North. It also mentioned the exploitation of natural resources and poor working conditions in supply chains dominated by multinational corporations.
Oxfam also targeted global institutions like the WTO and World Bank for perpetuating inequities. “The inequality that these countries experience today is significantly of colonial making,” the report said.
Colonialism’s lasting impact
Oxfam also addressed the societal divisions entrenched during colonial rule, such as caste, religion, and language. For instance, it pointed out that only 0.14% of India’s mother tongues are used as mediums of instruction.
The report further pointed out the devastating Bengal famine of 1943, which resulted in an estimated three million deaths. “Grain import restrictions during World War Two, underpinned by racist thinking, appear to have significantly contributed to or caused the Bengal famine,” Oxfam stated.
Global South struggles
Oxfam detailed how colonialism’s legacy continues to affect public services, education, and health in the Global South. It cited biopiracy, as seen in the case of neem, and the systemic exploitation of resources.
Calling colonialism’s impact a “fruit from the poisoned tree,” Oxfam summed up its report stating that global inequality remains deeply rooted in the historical practices of extraction and exploitation.
