Total global wealth has increased 14 percent from $203 trillion in January 2010 to $231 trillion in June 2011 on the back of continued economic recovery from the global financial crisis, Credit Suisse Research Institute said Wednesday in its second annual Global Wealth Report. In the next five years, global wealth is expected to rise by 50 percent to $345 trillion and wealth per adult to increase 40 percent to reach $70,700, led by growth in emerging markets. Wealth per adult increased 9 percent from $46,600 in January 2010 to $51,000 in June 2011 with the fastest growth registered in Latin America, Africa and Asia. The US stood out as the largest wealth generator in the world over the 18 months, adding $4.6 trillion to global wealth. Asia Pacific was the main contributor to the rise in global wealth during the period, with China, Japan, Australia and India among the top six contributors to global wealth accumulation. Asia Pacific stands out as the key contributor of global wealth growth, accounting for 36 percent of global wealth creation since 2000 and 54 percent since 2010. Total household wealth in Asia Pacific increased 23 percent from $61 trillion in January 2010 to $75 trillion in June 2011. This sharply contrasted with the 9.2 percent and 4.8 percent total wealth growth in North America and Europe over the same period respectively, reflective of the global megatrend of the continued shift of economic power from the developed world to emerging economies. The report finds that Europeans are sitting on much higher average debt per adult at $25, 550, versus $9,227 in Asia Pacific. The sharp divergence in indebtedness in Europe and Asia provides significant scope for Asia and Europe to work together to relieve the euro debt crisis. The report further said 29.7 million adults with household wealth of more than $1 million make up less than 1 percent of the world's adult population but own 38.5 percent of global household wealth. This year, Europe surpassed North America making up 37.2 percent millionaires in the world, followed by North America (37 percent). In Asia Pacific, Japan ranked first with 11 percent or 3.1 million millionaires, followed by Australia and China (one million each). The report estimates that China's high net worth individuals (HNWIs) have exceeded one million for the first time, representing 3.4 percent of the total number of HNWIs globally. Based on our June 2011 estimates, there are 84,700 ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWIs) with net assets exceeding $50 million each globally. Of these UHNWIs, 29,000 have assets worth at least $100 million each and 2,700 have assets above $500 million each. The number of UHNWIs is considerably greater than a decade ago, due to the general growth in asset values and the appreciation of other currencies against the US dollar. In terms of single countries, the USA leads by a huge margin with 35,400 UHNWIs or 42 percent of the global total, followed by China with 5,400 UHNWIs (6.4 percent), Germany (4,135 or 4.9 percent), Switzerland (3,820 or 4.5 percent) and Japan (3,400 or 4 percent). UHNWIs in other BRIC countries are also rising fast, with 1,970 in Russia, 1,840 in India, and 1,520 in Brazil by June 2011. Osama Abbasi, CEO Asia Pacific, Credit Suisse, said the latest report “reconfirms again that these are times of unprecedented economic change, and a radical reconfiguration of the world's economic order is taking shape. Emerging markets are important drivers of the global recovery and remain the key growth engines of global wealth.”
