TOP 5: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE GLOBAL WEALTH REPORT 2016

This month, the Credit Suisse Research Institute published the 2016 Global Wealth Report, revealing some interesting information about global wealth on the household level. Did we get richer? Did many of us accumulate wealth this year? How rich are we as individuals, as nations, and as a part of the world’s total wealth? Let’s take a look at the top 5 findings below.

For the past 8 years, the trend hasn’t changed: wealth accumulation was driven by growth in financial assets. But for the first time since 2008, non-financial assets recorded their own significant contribution to wealth growth. In figures, USD 4.9 trillion were added to non-financial assets as compared to USD 330 million added to financial assets.

Could this be due non-financial assets, such as property, are viable sources of wealth?

The wealth inequality gap between the world’s richest and the rest of the world’s population continues to widen. The report indicates that 89% of all global assets belong to the top 10% of the world’s richest, while the bottom half collectively own less than 1% of the world’s total wealth.

This isn’t a surprise to many. But then we still need to see and to interpret figures to truly substantiate the extent at which this is happening. And why.

Nations with emerging economies have 18% of the world’s ultra-high net worth population. 9% of that is in China. Interestingly, China is ahead of Germany, Italy, France, and the United Kingdom when it comes to the top 10 groups of nations where the top decile wealth holders are concentrated.

Curiously enough, news and information tells us that China might be on the verge of an economic meltdown. How will this affect the country’s overall net worth?

Globally, 9% of adults are classified as net debtors. And based on the figures gathered by Credit Suisse, 73.2% of adults have a wealth range of less than USD 10,000. In comparison, 0.7% of adults have a wealth range of greater than USD 1 million.

You’d want to know how wealth is distributed per country and how much wealth households are accumulating in the different parts of the world.

Switzerland still holds the distinction of being on top when it comes to median wealth. The report reveals that for four years now, per-adult wealth has exceeded USD 500,000. In fact, the total household wealth reported for 2016 is at USD 3.5 million. This is despite the fact that the country is only home to 0.1% of the world’s adults.

This isn’t surprising. But what is Switzerland doing differently that other countries can learn from?

The report also reveals that Japan and the USA have generated a significant amount of wealth in 2016. That’s in contrast to the UK, which recorded a noticeable decline in wealth generation as a result of currency depreciation. How do these findings factor in when it comes to assessing the world’s poverty levels, identifying the regional segments that comprise wealth accumulators, and analysing potential implications based on wealth per household and per country?

It’s true that there are a lot of factors at play when it comes to our ability to accumulate wealth as individuals, as a household, and as a nation. While those are not discussed in this post, a substantial body of information can be found in the original report. Click here.

Check it out and let me know what you think.