Yes the rich are getting richer.
And the wealth gap is getting bigger.
But many people in the world would happy swap places with the poorest Australian.
You see... of the world adult population, 64% have a net worth of less than $10,000
The following chart which uses numbers from the Global Wealth Migration Review 2019, examines the top 10 richest countries and the growth of private wealth from 2008 (the time of the Global Financial Crisis) to 2018.
Over the last decade global private wealth has been steadily growing.
In fact, overall private wealth worldwide reached $204 trillion in 2018, which is a 26% increase over the past decade.
But Australia has punched well above its weight with a 48% increase in private wealth
Rank | Country | Private Wealth in $USD (2018) | 10-yr change (%) |
---|---|---|---|
#1 | $60.7 trillion | 27% | |
#2 | $23.6 trillion | 130% | |
#3 | $19.1 trillion | 18% | |
#4 | $9.1 trillion | 4% | |
#5 | $8.8 trillion | 7% | |
#6 | $8.1 trillion | 96% | |
#7 | $6.0 trillion | 48% | |
#8 | $6.0 trillion | 23% | |
#9 | $5.9 trillion | -7% | |
#10 | $3.8 trillion | -14% |
Combined, the 10 countries above represent 74% of total private wealth worldwide.
Unfortunately, this growth is also linked to the growing problem of wealth inequality gap across the globe, and the gap seems to get bigger every year.
The average global wealth per adult is approximately $27,000 – but of the total adult population, 64% have a net worth of less than $10,000. The bottom half of adults in the world now own less than 1% of all household wealth.
By contrast, 85% of all household wealth is owned by the richest 10%, and the top 1% own almost half (47%) of the world’s household wealth.
Source: Visual Capitalist