Canada currently accounts for about 4% of the wealthiest people in the world, according to a new report from the Credit Suisse Research Institute.
In the second edition of its global wealth report, the firm reports that global household wealth has grown to an estimated US$231 trillion, from US$195 trillion, over the past year, driven by growth in South Africa, India, Australia, Chile and Singapore. Credit Suisse projects the total to grow by another 50% over the next five years to reach US$345 trillion by the end of 2016.
The report notes that Canada ranks eighth in the world in aggregate household wealth, and 13th in wealth per adult. At US$245,000, Canada’s wealth per adult is only slightly behind the United States, at US$248,000. Back in 2000, Canadian wealth was only 56% of U.S. levels, it notes. Mean household wealth grew at an average annual rate of 7.7% over the period, although more than half of this was due to exchange rate changes.
Canada also accounts for 4% of the wealthiest 1% in the world, despite having just 0.5% of the global population. The report notes that that there are now almost 1 million millionaires in Canada. That said, income inequality is notably lower than in the United Sates, with median wealth of US$89,000, versus US$53,000 in the U.S. Canada also has a smaller proportion of its population with less than US$1,000 in wealth, and a larger proportion with more than US$100,000.
Overall, the report says that there were 29.6 million high net worth individuals in the world in mid 2011 (defined as those with wealth of between US$1 million and US$50 million). North America accounts for 37% of the total, but it has now been edged out by Europe at 37.2%. Excluding China and India, Asia represents 19.2% of the total.
It also says that there were 84,700 ultra high net worth individuals in the world (with more than US$50 million in net assets). Of these, there are nearly 29,000 with more than US$100 million and 2,700 with assets in excess of US$500 million. North America represents 44% of the UHNW total, followed by Europe at 28% and Asia with 15%.
Looking ahead, China is expected to lead the way in worldwide wealth growth, adding a projected US$18 trillion to the stock of global wealth over the next five years, pushing it to almost US$39 trillion in total. This would put China ahead of Japan as the second wealthiest country, although it would still trail the US by a large margin, as it is projected to account for US$81 trillion in wealth by 2016. Net worth per adult worldwide is expected to reach US$70,700 in 2016, an increase of almost 40% over 2011.
Over the next five years, there will likely be a big improvement in the position of emerging economies, it says. While wealth in both China and Africa is projected to rise by over 90%, India and Brazil are forecast to do even better, with personal wealth more than doubling by 2016.
“The case of India is particularly striking. With total wealth of US$4.1 trillion in 2011, India’s household wealth is comparable to the US in 1916. But, during the next five years, India is projected to gain as much wealth as the US achieved over the course of 30 years beginning in 1916. This is due to an increase in wealth per adult accompanied by a significant rise in the adult population,” it says.