Global wealth fell last year for the first time since the Great Recession. Specifically, it shrank by 11.3 trillion dollars, 2.4%, to 454.4 trillion – or 416 trillion euros. Among the causes, high inflation; the appreciation of the dollar, the currency in which the study is calculated and which reduced the value of fortunes in other currencies; and a fall in the value of financial assets, in a year in which the large indices closed in the red.
With these data, each adult has lost about 3,200 dollars in assets, up to 84,718 dollars, or 77,500 euros. This is reflected in the traditional Credit Suisse-UBS annual report presented this Tuesday and which dates back to the year of the outbreak of the financial crisis. Figures in hand, Spain escaped the trend.
“The evolution of wealth proved to be resilient during the covid era and grew at a record pace during 2021. But inflation, rising interest rates and depreciating currencies caused a reversal in 2022,” he said. Nannette Hechler-Fayd’herbe, Credit Suisse’s global head of economics and research. The hit was felt mostly by households in the US, Japan, China, Canada and Australia.
Together North America and Europe left behind some $10.9 trillion in wealth. In Asia-Pacific, 2.1 billion were lost throughout the year. Other regions finished better, such as Latin America, where it increased by 2.4 trillion, thanks to the fact that its currencies appreciated on average 6% against the dollar. Something that was reflected above all in Mexico or Brazil. India and Russia, despite the sanctions for the invasion of Ukraine, also stand out in the increases in wealth. As a result, the richest 1% on the planet goes from having 45% of the wealth to 44.5%. 3.5 million millionaires are also lost. In the world 59.4 million can say that they are.
In the case of Spain, wealth per adult remained almost intact, with an increase of 0.6%, to 224,209 dollars or 205,200 euros of wealth. Although financial assets had a bad year, non-financial assets, or bricks, held up better. Prices in this segment remain stable despite rising interest rates and higher mortgage prices, says the report. Thus, the total wealth in Spain goes from 8.4 trillion to 8.5 trillion. Spanish millionaires, for their part, remain stable at 1.13 million.
Despite the global fall, from Credit Suisse-UBS they see an upward path: the fall of 2022 is more of a bump. The forecast is that wealth will increase by 38% in five years, up to 629 trillion dollars in 2026. The push will be exerted from the markets with medium income. The horizon would raise the millionaires by 20 million, to 86 million. The report covers the assets of some 5.4 billion adults globally, from all latitudes and all purchasing power. Based on wealth per adult, Switzerland tops the ranking, followed by the US and Hong Kong.
