An Oxfam report has claimed that the United Kingdom extracted US$64.82 trillion (~₹5609.23 lakh crore) from India over a century of colonisation, out of which 52.14% – US$33.8 trillion – went to the richest 10%.

As per the Oxfam International Report namely ‘Takers not Makers: The unjust poverty and unearned wealth of colonialism’ published on Monday, between 1765 and 1900, US$64.82 trillion was drained from India to the UK.

Based on the average income distribution over this period, US$33.8 trillion went to the richest 10% in the UK at the time which would be enough to carpet London in £50 notes almost four times over.

“Beyond the richest, the main beneficiaries of colonialism were the newly emergent middle class. After the richest 10%, who received 52% of this income, the new middle class received a further 32% of income,” the report added.

The Oxfam report says, “Legacies of inequality and pathologies of plunder, pioneered during the time of historical colonialism, continue to shape modern lives.”

“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,” Oxfam said.

Also read:

British-Indians ‘highest-performing in education, employment’ says UK study