The year in review
Also Interesting
Global Wealth Report 2018
The Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report is the most extensive and current source of information on global household wealth. Now in its ninth edition, the report not only provides insights into the wealth development of regions and segments, but for the first time it also focuses on the most recent evidence on female wealth holdings, in particular on gender differences with males. During the 12 months since our last report to mid-2018, aggregate global wealth rose by USD 14 trillion to USD 317 trillion, which represents a growth rate of approximately 4.6%. This growth rate was lower than last year, but higher than the average growth rate in the post-2008 era. This was sufficient to outpace population growth, so that wealth per adult grew by approximately 3.2%, a record high. Looking at the number of millionaires, we see that there are 42.2 million millionaires worldwide, which is up 2.3 million over the previous 12 months. Our research indicates that the United States added 878,000 new millionaires – representing around 40% of the global increase – to its already sizable stock, whereas the number of newcomers in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy was around 200,000 each. In China, the number of millionaires rose by a modest 186,000 and in Japan 94,000. The main explanation for these increases in millionaire numbers within countries lies in the real wealth growth, rather than in exchange-rate movements. Millionaire numbers fell in very few countries (such as Turkey and Brazil), and by relatively small amounts, the main driver being currency depreciation.
