According to Credit Suisse, the number of dollar millionaires has increased worldwide

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According to a study by Credit Suisse, there will be more super-rich people in 2021 than ever before.

(Photo: imago images / Westend61)

Zurich A strong global economy and a rally in financial markets have fueled unprecedented wealth growth over the past year. This emerges from the Global Wealth Report, which Credit Suisse presented on Tuesday. Accordingly, global wealth grew by $41.5 trillion in 2021 to a total of $463.6 trillion.

This corresponds to a growth of almost ten percent. At constant exchange rates, the increase in assets is as much as 12.7 percent – more than at any time in the data series going back 20 years.

On average, the wealth of every adult in the world has increased by around $87,500, the study further shows. The boom allowed more and more people to join the ranks of millionaires: According to the data, there are more than 62.5 million people worldwide whose assets, minus debts, are more than one million dollars.

The economist Anthony Shorrocks, who prepared the study on behalf of the Credit Suisse Research Institute, cites the post-corona boom as the reason. “It was the perfect storm.” Gross domestic product has risen, as have the financial markets. “We almost saw an explosion of wealth.”

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2021 was an extraordinary year because the fight against the pandemic also played a role. In 2020, states managed to cushion the loss of income caused by the first lockdowns. At the same time, the central banks supported the economy with low interest rates, according to Shorrocks. This laid the foundation for a strong recovery.

>> Read here: Producer prices in Germany are rising at record speed – “Incredible price hammer”
However, it cannot be assumed that assets will continue to grow at this rate, said Axel Lehmann, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Credit Suisse. “The global trend in wealth will be partially reversed,” he is convinced.

Every eighth Swiss is a millionaire

As wealth grew, so did inequality, adds Nanette Hechler-Fayd’herbe, head of the Credit Suisse Research Institute. In the pandemic years 2020 and 2021, global inequality increased slightly after years of decline. However, she qualifies: “Changes in inequality associated with short-run changes in asset prices often turn out to be transient.”

The biggest beneficiary of the wealth boom is by far the USA: A good half of the wealth growth of 41.5 trillion dollars was attributable to North America. Appropriately, almost half of the new dollar millionaires come from the USA. Overall, wealth per adult in the region increased by 14.7 percent. Only China grew at a comparable pace. After all, a million Chinese became dollar millionaires last year.

In Europe, wealth growth was significantly weaker at 1.5 percent per adult. Economist Shorrocks attributes this primarily to the depreciation of the euro against the dollar. In addition, share ownership is less widespread in Europe, which is costing the continent a lot of prosperity.

>> Read here: Producer prices in Germany are rising at record speed – “Incredible price hammer”

In terms of population, Switzerland is the richest country in the world: the average wealth of an adult there is just under $700,000. On average, every eighth inhabitant of the country is a dollar millionaire. This puts Switzerland well ahead of the USA, with average assets per adult of just under $580,000, as well as Hong Kong and Australia, each with around $550,000. Germany is well behind with average wealth of just over $250,000. The number of millionaires in this country was slightly declining.

The Credit Suisse Research Institute assumes that wealth will continue to grow in the future – albeit not at the same pace. Institute director Hechler-Fayd’herbe says: “In our five-year forecast, we are assuming a sustained increase in wealth.”

By 2026, she expects average wealth per adult globally to reach $100,000. At that point, there could be 87 million dollar millionaires worldwide. What you can still afford from a million dollars in 2026, however, is another matter.

More: “Price should be around 2000 dollars” – What experts expect from gold

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