The global household wealth has increased by 4.9% in current dollar terms to US$241 trillion from 2012, with the US being the wealthiest in terms of total net wealth for the first time since 2005, according to the Credit Suisse Research Institute Global Wealth Report 2013.
North America has gained US$8.4 trillion, an increase of 11.9%, boosted by a recovery in house prices and a bull equity market in the United States.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Access deeper industry intelligence
Experience unmatched clarity with a single platform that combines unique data, AI, and human expertise.
North American households have overtaken the European holdings, which added US$5.5 trillion, an increase of 7.7%.
The report found that household wealth in Japan dropped 20.5% to US$22.6 trillion during the same period, dragging down total wealth in Asia Pacific by 3.7% to US$73.9 trillion, while the Asia Pacific ex-Japan region continued to register stable wealth growth by 6.2% to US$ 51.3 trillion in mid-2013.
According to the report, US will continue to remain the undisputed leader in terms of aggregate wealth, with total net worth approaching USD 100 trillion by 2018 and China will overtake Japan as the second wealthiest economy in 2016.
The report findings revealed that global wealth is expected to rise by nearly 40% in the next five years, reaching US$334 trillion by 2018. Emerging markets are to increase their share of global wealth to 23% by 2018, with China accounting over 10% of global wealth.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataThe report said that Switzerland ranks highest in average wealth, breaking the 500,000 US$level to hit a new high of US$513,000 per adult. The number of millionaires worldwide is to increase by about 16 million reaching 47 million in 2018.
Credit Suisse estimates that household wealth in Austria, Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands is similar to the Eurozone level, but wealth is about 20% higher in Italy and Belgium, and about 50% higher in France and Luxembourg, while Spain and Cyprus with about 60% of the Eurozone average, Greece with half of the Eurozone level, and Estonia and Slovakia with less than 20% of the Eurozone level.
The report findings estimated that the share of wealth of emerging markets will likely reach 23% by 2018 at USD 76.9 trillion, an increase of 0.5% on average each year. The annual rate of increase is projected to be 9.1% for emerging markets against 6.1% for developed markets.
According to the report, over the next five years, China’s wealth will grow at a rapid pace of 10.1% to US$35.9 trillion. China accounts for 9.2% of global wealth, and this will rise to 10.7%. The US will account for 29% of global wealth in 2018 with US$98 trillion. Wealth in India will also grow very rapidly, at an annual pace of 9.3% to US$5.6 trillion in 2018.
On a per adult basis, China will increase its wealth by US$12,100 to US$34,400 and India by US$1,900 to US$6,600.
Credit Suisse report suggests that the number of global millionaires could exceed 47 million in 2018, a rise of nearly 16 million.
While the number of millionaires in emerging economies is still far below the levels in the US (18.6 million) or Europe (15.0 million), it is expected to increase substantially in the next few years. China could see its number almost doubling by 2018, raising the total to 2.1 million.
Giles Keating, global head of research for private banking &wWealth management at Credit Suisse, said: "The fourth annual Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report shows a US$11 trillion rise in wealth to over US$241 trillion, with the US as the clear winner overtaking Europe and APAC falling back due to the sharp depreciation of the yen.
"We look at wealth mobility for the first time and it appears surprisingly high. For instance, less than two-thirds of the 2000-01 Forbes billionaires remained on the list by 2005, and barely half were on it by the end of the decade," he added.
