Every year, Credit Suisse puts out an in-depth look at wealth around the world (I often pull a chart or two for the reads). The data always has some interesting findings about how the very wealthy are investing, consuming, and otherwise spending their time and money. I don’t always reference it, but intriguing and anomalous findings are always worth sharing.
This year is one of those times.
The dollar totals and percentage gains both hit all-time highs. The actual data had some very interesting highlights, including some ginormous numbers:
-Global Wealth: $463.6 trillion (end of 2021)
-Increase versus 2020: +9.8%
-Annual average gains: +6.6% (Avg 2000-2020)
-Aggregate global wealth: +12.7% (Fastest annual rate ever).
-Wealth per adult: $87,489
-Real (inflation-adjusted) Wealth: +8.2%.
Gains by country
1. United States
2. China
3. Canada
4. India
5. Australia
Total Wealth per capita
1. Switzerland ($696,600)
2. United States
3. Hong Kong
4. Australia,
5. Belgium
In the United States, African American and Hispanic households saw very largest percentage increases in wealth (+22.2% and +19.9%), but an the biggest surprise was the generational gains by Millennials and Gen X: They grew their wealth most between 2019 and 2022 dramatically:
Most ultra-high-net-worth individuals
United States with over 140,000 2
China 32,710
Worldwide there are 62.5 million millionaires (+ 5.2 million from 2020)
The 5-year outlook is global wealth will increase by $169 trillion by 2026; by 2024, global wealth per adult should pass $100,000 and the number of millionaires will exceed 87 million individuals over the next five years. Much of the media focused on a silly number – a forecast of the number of global millionaires by 2026 at >87 million from 62 million in 2021 – a gain of ~40%.
The entire 72-page PDF is definitely worth checking out…
Previously:
Wealth Distribution Analysis (July 18, 2019)
Wealth Distribution in America (April 11, 2019)
Composition of Wealth Differs: Middle Class to the Top 1% (June 5, 2019)
No, Your iPhone Does Not Make You Wealthy (June 4, 2018)
Source:
Global Wealth Report 2022 Leading perspectives to navigate the future
Credit Suisse, September 2022
PDF
See also:
Bloomberg WealthScore
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1. Note: Wealth losses almost always associated with currency depreciation against the US dollar, affecting for example Japan, Italy and Turkey.
2. Wealth share of bottom 50% of households in the United States increased from 1.84% to 2.64%, mostly due to a rise in the value of real estate.
