Global wealth drops in 2015, but inequalities widen

15 Oct '15

5 min read

"While the distribution of wealth is skewed towards the wealthy, the considerable economic importance of the base and middle sections (of the wealth pyramid) should not be overlooked. Together, they account for 39 trillion US dollars in wealth, driving a significant part of demand for a wide range of consumer goods and financial services," Thiam underlined. To be part of the wealthiest half of the world's adult population, you need 3,210 dollars once debts have been subtracted. To be a member of the world's wealthiest 10 per cent you need 68,800 dollars and to be among the richest percentile, 759,900 dollars.

The report said global wealth is likely to continue grow at an annual rate of 6.5 per cent in the coming years, reaching 345 trillion US dollars in 2020, 38 per cent above the current level of wealth. The US will remain the undisputed leader in terms of wealth, holding nearly a third of the global total. The main drivers behind the continued wealth growth are, however, located in the emerging economies. Their share of the global wealth could rise to 19 per cent by 2020, from 17 per cent today. Both China and India are likely to post annual growth rates above 9 per cent in the five coming years. They have together managed to double their share of global wealth to 10.5 per cent over the past 15 years.

Chinese wealth growth has been particularly strong: In 2000, the size of Chinese wealth was similar to that of the US back in 1939. Fifteen years later, Chinese wealth stood at the level the US had reached in 1972 (33 years later!) and the wealth of the country's households could well continue to leapfrog the growth rates of developed economies. As a result, the number of Chinese dollar millionaires is expected to reach 2.3 million by 2020, a 74 per cent increase compared to today.

Globally the number of dollar millionaires is set to soar by 46 per cent over the next five years, to a total of 49.3 million adults with 22 million of these living in North America, 15.5 million in Europe and 8 million in Asia Pacific (excluding China and India) – an additional 15.5 million dollar millionaires in just 5 years. To put this figure in perspective, this group of dollar millionaires will still only account for 0.7 per cent of the world's adult population, the report said. (SH)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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