The world’s biggest corporations have increased their wealth compared with nation states in the last year, illustrating the growing power of multinational businesses.
A study by the anti-poverty charity Global Justice Now found that the number of businesses in the top 100 economic entities jumped to 69 in 2015 from 63 in the previous year.
While many emerging market economies have struggled to grow in the last couple of years, mainly as a result of China’s slowdown, many of the world’s largest corporations have increased in size.
The London-based campaign group said the 10 biggest corporations – including Walmart, Apple and Shell – make more money than most countries in the world combined.
The charity blamed governments for bowing to pressure from multinational firms to promote business-friendly tax regimes above the needs of their citizens.
An assessment of the top 200 entities found that many smaller countries were squeezed out, leaving 153 corporations above many nations from Africa, Asia and South America.
The US, China, Germany, Japan, France and the UK make up the top six economic entities followed by Italy, Brazil and Canada.
Walmart ranks as the 10th largest, followed by China’s electricity monopoly State Grid at number 14, China National Petroleum at 15 and Chinese oil firm Sinopec Group at 16. Apple ranked 26th behind the 18th-placed Royal Dutch Shell, with Exxon Mobil at 21, Volkswagen at 22 and Toyota at 23.
The value of the top 10 corporations was $285tn (£215tn), beating the $280tn worth of the bottom 180 countries, which include Ireland, Indonesia, Israel, Colombia, Greece, South Africa, Iraq and Vietnam.
Nick Dearden, the charity’s director, said: “The vast wealth and power of corporations is at the heart of so many of the world’s problems – like inequality and climate change.
“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.”
Global Justice Now said it released the figures to increase pressure on the British government ahead of a UN working group, led by Ecuador, that aims to draw up a binding treaty “to ensure transnational corporations abide by the full range of human rights responsibilities”.
Campaigners said they are calling for the treaty to be legally enforceable at a national and global level. The charity has criticised Britain for refusing to support the process.
Dearden said: “The UK government has facilitated this rise in corporate power through tax structures, trade deals and even aid programmes that help big business.
“Their wholehearted support for the US-EU trade deal TTIP, is just the latest example of government help to big business. Disgracefully, it also routinely opposes the call of developing countries to hold corporations to account for their human rights impacts at the UN.”
