South Caucasus Countries in the Global Wealth Report
On 22 October, the Credit Suisse Research Institute published their Global Wealth Report for the year 2019. Armenia and Georgia were listed among countries with lower middle income, with a total wealth of $42 billion for Armenia and $37 billion for Georgia, while Azerbaijan was listed among countries with upper middle income and a total wealth of $83 billion, reported news.am.
Russia has been classified amongst the upper middle income group, which covers the countries with mean wealth in the range of USD 25,000–100,000, while Turkey and Iran are in the lower middle income group, which covers the countries with mean wealth in the range of 5,000 to 25,000 USD. Switzerland (564,650 USD yearly) again tops the ranking according to wealth per adult, Hong Kong was second (USD 489,260), followed by the United States (432,370 USD) and Australia (386,060 USD).
The report’s main findings were that global wealth grew by 2.6% during the past year to 360tn USD and wealth per adult reached a new record high of 70,850 USD, 1.2% above the level of mid-2018. US, China and Europe contributed the most towards global wealth growth with $3.8tn, $1.9tn and $1.1tn respectively. North America and Europe together account for 57% of total household wealth but contain only 17% of the world adult population. The two regions had similar total wealth at one time, but North America now accounts for 32% of global wealth compared to 25% for Europe. While more than half of all adults worldwide have a net worth below $10,000, nearly 1% of adults are millionaires who collectively own 44% of global wealth. However, the trend toward increasing inequality has eased, and the share of the top 1% of wealth holders is below the recent peak in 2016.
Global wealth is projected to rise by 27% over the next five years, reaching $459 trillion by 2024. Low- and middle-income countries are responsible for 38% of the growth, although they account for just 31% of current wealth. Growth by middle-income countries will be the primary driver of global trends. The number of millionaires will also grow markedly over the next five years to reach almost 63 million.
The Credit Suisse Research Institute is a think-tank that studies long-term economic developments that have a global impact in the financial services industry and beyond. The Credit Suisse Global wealth report offers a comprehensive portrait of world wealth, covering all regions and countries, and all parts of the wealth spectrum from rich to poor.