World wealth fell in the last year, according to Credit Suisse-UBS

The world wealth declined in 2022 for the first time since 2018 mainly due to the appreciation of the dollar against several currencies and inflation, which caused a reduction in private net worth of $11.3 billion or 2.4% less than the previous year, according to the report annual wealth report from Credit Suisse-UBS bank.

Financial assets largely caused this compression of wealth, while non-financial assets responded better to the pressure, mainly in the real estate market, where prices remained stable despite the sharp rise in interest rates and to the consequent increase in the cost of mortgages.

Under these circumstances, global wealth stood at 454.4 billion dollars at the end of 2022 and that attributed to each adult was 85,718 dollars, almost 3,200 dollars less than in 2021 (-3-6%).

This situation differs considerably from the results of 2021, the year in which world wealth grew by 9.8%, despite the fact that the world had not yet emerged from the acute stage of the covid-19 pandemic.

According to the report, overall wealth inequality fell very slightly with the world’s richest 1% owning 44.5% of wealth (45% in 2021).

The loss of world wealth in 2022 was concentrated in the most affluent regions of the planet: North America and Europe, which together saw a volatilization of 10.9 billion dollars.

Losses in Asia-Pacific were 2.1 trillion, while Latin America was the only region where there was an increase in wealth, of 2.4 trillion dollars, thanks to the fact that the currencies appreciated on average 6% against the dollar.

In terms of markets, the United States, Japan, China, Canada and Australia led the losses.

A group of emerging economies led the increase in wealth: Brazil, Mexico, India and Russia, despite the impact on the latter’s economy of the war that continues against Ukraine and the international financial sanctions against it for this aggression.

On the other hand, the number of dollar millionaires worldwide decreased by 3.5 million and stood at 59.4 million people.

According to the report’s forecasts, global wealth will increase by 38% over the next five years to reach $629 trillion in 2027, and the main driver of this growth will be middle-income markets.

It is estimated that that year the wealth per adult will reach $110,270 (30% more).

The traditional report produced fourteen years ago by Credit Suisse -now part of the Swiss bank UBS- is one of the most exhaustive analyzes that exist on wealth and covers the wealth of 5.4 billion adults worldwide and across the spectrum of income.