Executive summary
Global wealth declines for first time since global financial crisis of 2008
- Measured in current nominal USD, total net private wealth fell by USD 11.3 trillion
- (–2.4%) to USD 454.4 trillion at the end of 2022.
- Wealth per adult also declined by USD 3,198 (–3.6%) to reach USD 84,718 per adult at the end of the year.
- Much of this decline comes from the appreciation of the US dollar against many other currencies.
- Financial assets contributed most to wealth declines in 2022 while non-financial assets (mostly real estate) stayed resilient, despite rapidly rising interest rates.
Losses of wealth concentrated in wealthier regions and countries
- The loss of global wealth was heavily concentrated in wealthier regions such as North America and Europe, which together shed USD 10.9 trillion.
- Asia Pacific recorded losses of USD 2.1 trillion, while Latin America is the outlier with a total wealth increase of USD 2.4 trillion, helped by an average 6% currency appreciation against the US dollar.
- Heading the list of losses in country terms in 2022 is the United States, followed by Japan, China, Canada and Australia.
- The largest wealth increases were recorded for Russia, Mexico, India and Brazil.
Generation X and Millennials in USA and Canada not immune to overall wealth reduction
- Broken down by race, non-Hispanic Caucasians in the USA saw their wealth decrease in 2022, while African-Americans were left almost unscathed by the downturn
- In contrast, Hispanics achieved 9.5% growth in 2022, owing to their greater holdings of housing assets compared to financial assets.
Reduction in wealth inequalities
- Along with the decline in aggregate wealth, overall wealth inequality also fell in 2022, with the wealth share of the global top 1% falling to 44.5%.
- The number of USD millionaires worldwide fell by 3.5 million during 2022 to 59.4 million. This figure does not, however, take into account 4.4 million “inflation millionaires” who would no longer qualify if the millionaire threshold were adjusted for inflation in 2022.
- Global median wealth, arguably a more meaningful indicator of how the typical person is faring, did in fact increase by 3% in 2022 in contrast to the 3.6% fall in wealth per adult.
- For the world as a whole, median wealth has increased five-fold this century at roughly double the pace of wealth per adult, largely due to the rapid wealth growth in China.
Brighter outlook according to report’s projections
- Global wealth is expected to rise by 38% over the next five years, reaching USD 629 trillion by 2027.
- Growth by middle-income countries will be the primary driver of global trends.
- The authors estimate wealth per adult to reach USD 110,270 in 2027 and the number of millionaires to reach 86 million while the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) is likely to rise to 372,000 individuals.
