Wealth in Money and Real Estate in Europe, USA, and Asia
Swiss and US citizens are much wealthier than Germans. Americans own half of the world’s wealth. Between countries, wealth is even more unequally distributed than within the populations of most countries.
These and other findings come from the Global Wealth Report 2024 by Allianz Insurance, which examines the situation in 2023. In this article, we round off the numbers from the report.
Global Average Financial Wealth: €32,000, Median at €2,000
Global average financial wealth, excluding real estate, is approximately €32,000 per person. The median is €2,000, meaning half of humanity owns less and the other half more than €2,000.
The richest 10% of the world, with an average wealth of €275,000, own 86% of global financial wealth. Two decades ago, the top 10% owned 92%, so their share has decreased slightly.
About half of humanity has no wealth at all.
In another perspective, the Allianz report divides into three classes (upper, middle, and lower class) instead of 10, as mentioned above. The findings are as follows:
The global middle class has grown, mainly due to Asia, particularly China. The “West,” especially Western Europe and to a lesser extent the USA, has relatively declined.
In the upper class, the share of the West has also fallen, again particularly in Western Europe and less so in the USA.
Global Financial Wealth: €180 Trillion, Global Real Estate Wealth: €120 Trillion
Real estate wealth increased by only 1.8% in 2023, attributed to high interest rates and rising construction costs.
In Europe, real estate wealth still ranks first over financial wealth. Internationally, the reverse ranking is primarily due to the USA, not because real estate values have declined there.
Instead, global real estate value fell to second place because financial wealth in the USA has risen significantly.
Germans Rank 12th Globally with €200K Total Wealth Including Real Estate
Swiss and non-European Anglosaxons are the wealthiest, followed by Western Europeans at a significant distance. Japanese and South Koreans, the richest Asians, lag behind Spaniards. The wealthiest EU citizens are Danes, followed by the Dutch.
| Average Total Wealth in €K, Rounded | |
|---|---|
| Switzerland | 578 |
| USA | 440 |
| Australia | 366 |
| New Zealand | 307 |
| Denmark | 276 |
| Canada | 276 |
| Netherlands | 274 |
| Belgium | 268 |
| Austria | 224 |
| France | 215 |
| Sweden | 212 |
| Germany | 201 |
| United Kingdom | 201 |
| Norway | 201 |
| Italy | 183 |
| Spain | 181 |
| Japan | 159 |
| South Korea | 145 |
| Finland | 130 |
| Slovenia | 87 |
Western Europe: The Sick Man of the World?
In conclusion, Western Europe is relatively declining compared to Asia, with Asia and particularly China rising, while the USA outperforms Western Europe—mainly due to the booming US stock market.
The comprehensive study linked above provides a global bird’s-eye view and is based on necessarily broad classifications, for example, regarding what counts as the middle or upper class. Detailed figures specific to Germany are scarce in the report.