According to a report on the world’s wealthy by the Credit Suisse bank, the number of people here worth 858,000 euros or more rose to 68,000 last year, which is up more than 11 percent on the previous year.
Indications are that this number will continue to grow in the foreseeable future. The main factors behind this increase in wealth have been the stock markets and a stronger real estate market.
In the past 12 months, total global wealth grew by 6.4 percent, researchers said in a statement. It is the fastest pace of wealth creation since 2012 and one of the best results since the financial crisis. Moreover, as wealth increased faster than the population, global mean wealth per adult reached a new record high of USD 56,540.
Comparing wealth gains across countries, the United States is an unquestionable leader. The country continued its remarkable unbroken spell of gains after the financial crisis and added USD 8.5 trillion to the stock of global wealth. In other words, the US generated more than half of the total global wealth aggregation of USD 16.7 trillion of the past 12 months.
“So far, the Trump Presidency has seen businesses flourish and employment grow, though the ongoing supportive role played by the Federal Reserve has undoubtedly played a part here as well, and wealth inequality remains a prominent issue,” commented Michael O’Sullivan, CIO for International Wealth Management at Credit Suisse. “Looking ahead, however, high market valuations and property prices may curb the pace of growth in future years.”
In line with global wealth growth, wealth in Europe increased by 6.4 percent thanks to stability spread across the continent. From Europe, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain made it into the top ten countries with the biggest gains in absolute terms.
Converted into percentage terms, the biggest household wealth gain globally was recorded in Poland. The increase of 18 percent was driven mainly by rising equity prices.
Switzerland continues to lead the ranking in terms of both average and median wealth per adult in 2017, the latter favouring countries with higher levels of wealth equality. Since the turn of the century, wealth per adult in Switzerland has risen by 130 percent to USD 537,600.
Emerging economies are expected to generate wealth at a faster pace than their developed peers, and are likely to achieve a 22 percent share in global wealth at the end of the five-year period. Unsurprisingly, the strongest contribution is expected from China and is estimated at around USD 10 trillion, an increase of 33 percent.
The outlook for the millionaire segment is more optimistic than for the bottom of the wealth pyramid (less than 10,000 dollars per adult). The former is expected to rise by 22 percent, from 36 million people today to 44 million in 2022, while the group occupying the lowest tier of the pyramid is expected to shrink by only 4 percent.