Twenty-two of the richest men in the world are richer than all the women in Africa, a report by Oxfam has revealed.

The report, titled: ‘Time to Care’, indicates that the richest people in the world have more wealth than 60% of the population.

The report shows that in 2019, the world’s billionaires – only 2,153 people – had more wealth than 4.6 billion people who make up nearly two-thirds of the globe's population.

According to the report, roughly one-third of billionaire wealth comes from inheritance, and billionaire wealth has increased since 2009 by an average of 7.4% a year, far higher than any rate an ordinary saver could obtain. The number of billionaires has doubled in the last decade, it added.

It found that today’s “extreme wealth” is also founded on sexism, as men continue to dominate the wealth scales.

The report, released ahead of the World Economic Forum, which starts Tuesday in Davos, highlighted the need for countries to adopt policies aimed at reducing gender-based economic inequality, blaming governments for under-taxing the super-rich and corporations.

“The gap between the rich and poor can’t be resolved without deliberate inequality-busting policies, and too few governments are committed to these,” Oxfam India CEO, Amitabh Behar, said in a statement.

"Governments created the inequality crisis — they must act now to end it. They must ensure corporations and wealthy individuals pay their fair share of tax and increase investment in public services and infrastructure."

According to the report, roughly one-third of billionaire wealth comes from inheritance, and billionaire wealth has increased since 2009 by an average of 7.4% a year, far higher than any rate an ordinary saver could obtain. The number of billionaires has doubled in the last decade, it added.

The World Bank’s current measures extreme poverty as people living on $1.90 per day.

Unequal pay is also a challenge, and women and girls were said to be putting in hours of work with cheap and free labour.