Oxfam analysis finds Peru’s richest captured 42 percent of all new wealth

Only 1.4 percent of all new wealth created between 2019 and 2025 went to the poorest 50 percent of the population, report finds.

Peru has seen roughly nine presidents in the last decade, contributing to the country's political instability [File: Mario Tama/Getty Images]

The top 1 percent in Peru captured 42 percent of all new wealth generated between 2019 and 2025, an analysis by the nonprofit group Oxfam has found.

The report, released on Tuesday, highlights growing inequality in the South American country and raises questions about how the government is addressing deepening social divisions.

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“Economic inequality in Peru has remained stubbornly high for decades. And when people feel that the same people always win, that nothing changes and nothing can change, inequality starts to look less like an injustice and more like the natural order of things,” said Alejandra Alayza, the executive director of Oxfam in Peru.

“That is a dangerous kind of fatalism, and we must tear it down.”

The nonprofit told Al Jazeera in an email that the 42 percent figure represents an increase from the 2000 to 2019 period, when the top 1 percent captured about 39 percent of all new wealth.

Just 1.4 percent of new wealth from 2019 to 2025 went to the poorest 50 percent of the country’s population, according to the group.

Experts warn the trend bodes poorly for public faith in government and democratic institutions .

Oxfam worked with the Institute for Peruvian Studies, a think tank in Lima, to publish a report this month on Peruvians’ perceptions of inequality in their country.

The groups found that 84 percent of Peruvians believed their country is governed by powerful interests that shape politics to their benefit. More than 75 percent also said that wealthy corporations and individuals avoid paying their fair share of taxes.

The survey also suggested that public opinion was in favour of action to address the issue.

About 70 percent of respondents said they want the government to do more to reduce inequality, which a majority felt had limited access to services such as healthcare, employment, education and justice.

“The undeniable scale of public support for action to reduce inequality leaves no room for complacency,” Alayza said.

“Inequality is not a force of nature; it is made by political choices. And different choices can build a different Peru.”

Political instability

Peru’s rising inequality has been accompanied by a period of political turmoil, particularly in the presidential palace.

A stream of probes, scandals and impeachments has led to Peru being governed by nine presidents in the last 10 years.

The latest, right-wing President Keiko Fujimori, was sworn into office in July after a narrow race that saw voting delays and heated recriminations among the leading candidates.

Experts believe powerful interests have found opportunity amid the political tumult.

“It’s sort of a paradox. How can you have such a rotation among elites but still have a relatively narrow political-criminal-business elite that holds a lot of power? I think both things are true in Peru,” Will Freeman, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, a US-based think tank, told Al Jazeera.

Part of the political upheaval has come from clashes between the presidency and Peru’s powerful Congress, which has the power to impeach executive leaders on the basis of “moral incapacity”, an ambiguous term.

The repeated leadership shakeups have weakened Peru’s democracy, according to analysts.

In December 2022, for instance, then-President Pedro Castillo announced that he would illegally dissolve Congress in response to repeated attempts to impeach him.

His subsequent removal and arrest prompted widespread protests. The government of Castillo’s successor, Dina Boluarte, implemented a months-long crackdown on the demonstrations that rights groups say included widespread abuses for which there has been little accountability.

In the years since, the Peruvian government has also taken steps to weaken judicial oversight and hollow out anticorruption watchdogs.

The nonprofit Freedom House, which measures political freedom in countries around the world, ranked Peru as “free” in 2022. But its ranking dropped the following year to “partly free”, in light of the deadly clashes between security forces and protesters.

In its 2026 report, Freedom House maintained that Peru was only “partly free”, citing in part the denial of full political rights to certain groups, including Indigenous peoples.

“High-profile corruption scandals have eroded public trust in government, and the weakening of judicial independence has impacted the country’s governing bodies,” the nonprofit said.

Powerful interests, both licit and illicit, have taken advantage of those changes.

“The groups themselves are unstable and fluid,” said Freeman. “And yet, I think Peruvians are right to conclude that, generally, they are wielding outsized influence in defence of their own commercial interests or political power rather [than] in service of some kind of general welfare.”

报告显示，2019 年至 2025 年间创造的所有新财富中，只有 1.4% 流向了最贫困的 50% 人口。

秘鲁在过去十年中更换了大约九位总统，这加剧了该国的政治不稳定。[图片：Mario Tama/Getty Images]

非营利组织乐施会的一项分析发现，秘鲁最富有的 1% 的人获得了 2019 年至 2025 年间创造的所有新增财富的 42%。

这份于周二发布的报告强调了该南美国家日益加剧的不平等现象，并就政府如何应对日益加深的社会分裂提出了质疑。

（共3条）秘鲁加入美国主导的“美洲之盾”安全联盟

（共3条）第2条：藤森庆子在以微弱优势赢得选举后宣誓就任秘鲁总统

名单3/3：秘鲁前总统乌马拉在定罪被推翻后获释

“秘鲁的经济不平等现象几十年来一直居高不下。当人们觉得总是同一批人获胜，一切都没有改变，而且也不可能改变时，不平等看起来就不像是一种不公正，而更像是事物发展的自然规律，”乐施会秘鲁执行主任亚历杭德拉·阿拉伊萨说道。

“那是一种危险的宿命论，我们必须消除它。”

该非营利组织在一封电子邮件中告诉半岛电视台，42% 的数字比 2000 年至 2019 年期间有所增加，当时最富有的 1% 的人获得了约 39% 的新增财富。

该组织表示，2019 年至 2025 年新增财富中，只有 1.4% 流向了该国最贫困的 50% 人口。

专家警告说，这种趋势预示着公众对政府和民主制度的信任度将受到严重损害。

乐施会与利马的智库秘鲁研究所合作，于本月发布了一份关于秘鲁人对本国不平等现象的看法的报告。

调查发现，84%的秘鲁人认为他们的国家被强大的利益集团所掌控，这些集团操纵政治以谋取自身利益。超过75%的人还表示，富裕的企业和个人逃避缴纳他们应缴的税款。

调查还显示，公众舆论赞成采取行动解决该问题。

约 70% 的受访者表示，他们希望政府采取更多措施来减少不平等现象，大多数人认为不平等限制了人们获得医疗保健、就业、教育和司法等服务的机会。

“公众对减少不平等行为的支持力度之大，不容置疑，因此我们绝不能掉以轻心，”阿莱扎说。

“不平等并非自然规律，而是政治选择造成的。不同的选择可以造就一个不同的秘鲁。”

政治不稳定

秘鲁日益加剧的不平等现象伴随着一段政治动荡时期，尤其是在总统府。

过去十年间，一系列的调查、丑闻和弹劾导致秘鲁更换了九位总统。

最新一任总统是右翼的藤森庆子，她在7月宣誓就职。此前，她经历了一场势均力敌的竞选，期间投票出现延误，主要候选人之间也发生了激烈的相互指责。

专家认为，强大的利益集团已在政治动荡中找到了机会。

“这有点自相矛盾。精英阶层轮换如此频繁，但权力却仍然掌握在相对狭窄的政治、犯罪和商业精英手中，这怎么可能呢？我认为秘鲁的情况正是如此，”美国智库外交关系委员会的研究员威尔·弗里曼告诉半岛电视台。

部分政治动荡源于总统与秘鲁强大的国会之间的冲突，国会有权以“道德败坏”为由弹劾行政领导人，而“道德败坏”是一个含义模糊的术语。

分析人士认为，领导层的频繁更迭削弱了秘鲁的民主。

例如，2022 年 12 月，时任总统佩德罗·卡斯蒂略宣布，他将非法解散国会，以回应对他的多次弹劾企图。

卡斯蒂略被罢免和逮捕后，引发了广泛的抗议活动。他的继任者迪娜·博卢阿尔特政府对示威活动进行了长达数月的镇压，人权组织称镇压期间存在大量侵犯人权的行为，但几乎没有追究相关责任。

此后几年，秘鲁政府还采取措施削弱司法监督，并掏空反腐败监督机构。

非营利组织“自由之家”负责衡量世界各国的政治自由度，该组织在2022年将秘鲁评为“自由”国家。但鉴于安全部队与抗议者之间发生的致命冲突，其排名在第二年下降至“部分自由”。

自由之家在其 2026 年报告中坚持认为，秘鲁只是“部分自由”，部分原因是某些群体（包括土著人民）被剥夺了充分的政治权利。

该非营利组织表示：“备受瞩目的腐败丑闻削弱了公众对政府的信任，司法独立的削弱也影响了国家的治理机构。”

各种强大的利益集团，包括合法的和非法的，都利用了这些变化。

弗里曼说：“这些团体本身并不稳定，流动性很强。然而，我认为秘鲁人的结论是正确的，即总的来说，他们行使过大的影响力是为了维护自身的商业利益或政治权力，而不是为了某种公共福利。”