You’ll never believe which country gained the most wealth over the last decade

Wealth is not stagnant.

It grows, it gets transferred, and it even migrates from country to country!

But you'll never guess which countries gained the most wealth over the last decade according to market research company New World Wealth.

This report suggests the world has now accumulated $215 trillion in private wealth, a 12% increase over 2017, according to the latest report by

This number includes wealth held by the general population, as well as:

• the 15.2 million millionaires ($1M+ in assets),
• 584,000 multi-millionaires ($10M+ in assets), and
• 2,252 billionaires ($1B+ in assets) in the world.

But the picture of global wealth hasn’t always been constant – in fact, it’s always shifting based on market performance, the movement of high net worth individuals (HNWIs), demographic trends, and other factors.

As you can see from the infographic below Australia is the world's 9th richest country with $6.1 trillion in wealth.

This places it way ahead of most other developed nations.

TOP COUNTRIES ADDING WEALTH

Over the last decade, from 2007 to 2017, here are the top countries based on percentage of new wealth added (in $USD terms):

Not surprisingly, plenty of developing markets made this list.

Just missing the Top 10 list above are two developed economies: Australia and New Zealand.

• Vietnam, which had a 210% growth in wealth held over the last decade, is an emerging manufacturing hub. The market is projected by New World Wealth to grow a further 200% in the next 10 years, bolstered by strong growth in its local healthcare, manufacturing, and financial services sectors.
• The small island nation of Mauritius is one of Africa’s brightest success stories, with a 195% growth in wealth over the last 10 years. With favourable tax policies, beautiful beaches, and better relative safety ratings, HNWIs have been moving to the island en masse.

COUNTRIES THAT LOST WEALTH

Here are the markets that saw total wealth decrease over the last 10 years, in terms of U.S. dollars.

The crisis in Venezuela had a particularly rough impact on wealth.

The country, which was once the richest in South America, lost 48% of its wealth in $USD terms over the last decade.

It’s also worth mentioning that many of the countries that saw wealth decrease over this time period are European – that’s because the 2008 financial crisis (and the ensuing sovereign debt crisis) hit Europe particularly hard.

Greece bore the brunt of this impact, losing 37% of its wealth in the 2007-2017 period.

Source: Visual Capitalist

About Michael Yardney Michael is a director of Metropole Property Strategists who help their clients grow, protect and pass on their wealth through independent, unbiased property advice and advocacy. He's once again been voted Australia's leading property investment adviser and one of Australia's 50 most influential Thought Leaders. His opinions are regularly featured in the media.