Global wealth fell last year for the first time since the Great Recession. Specifically, it shrank by 11.3 billion dollars, 2.4%, to 454.4 billion – or 416 billion 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 major indexes closed in the red. With this data, each adult has lost around $3,200 worth of assets, up to $84,718, or €77,500. This is reflected in the traditional annual report of Credit Suisse-UBS presented yesterday and which goes back to the year of the onset of the financial crisis. Figures in hand, Spain escaped the trend.
“Wealth developments proved resilient during the covid era and grew at a record pace during 2021. But inflation, rising interest rates and depreciating currencies led a reversal in 2022”, said Nannette Hechler-Fayd'herbe, Global Director of Economics and Research at Credit Suisse. The bump was mostly felt by households in the US, Japan, China, Canada and Australia.
Together, North America and Europe lost about $10.9 trillion in wealth. In the Asia-Pacific region, 2.1 trillion were lost throughout the year. Others fared better, such as Latin America, where wealth increased by 2.4 trillion, thanks to the fact that their currencies appreciated by an average of 6% against the dollar. This effect was mainly reflected in Mexico or Brazil. India and Russia, despite the sanctions for the invasion of Ukraine, also stand out in terms of asset increases. As a result, on the planet the richest 1% 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 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. Despite the fact that financial assets experienced a bad year, non-financial assets, i.e. real estate, held up a little better. Prices in this segment remain stable despite rising interest rates and rising mortgage prices, the report says. Thus, the total wealth in Spain goes from 8.4 trillion to 8.5 trillion. Spanish millionaires, meanwhile, remain stable at 1.13 million.
Despite the global downturn, Credit Suisse-UBS sees a bullish path: the 2022 crash is, more than anything, a blip. Wealth is forecast to rise 38% over five years, to $629 trillion by 2026. The push will come from middle-income markets. The horizon would increase millionaires by 20 million, up to 86 million. The report includes the wealth of around 5.4 billion adults on a global scale. Based on wealth per adult, Switzerland tops the ranking. It is followed by the USA and Hong Kong.
