GLOBAL HOUSEHOLD WEALTH DROPS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2008 CRISIS
Inflation, U.S. dollar appreciation wiped $11.3 trillion off assets
Global household wealth fell last year for the first time since the financial crisis in 2008, as inflation and the appreciation of the U.S. dollar wiped some $11.3 trillion off assets.
Total net private wealth across the world decreased by 2.4 percent to a total of $454.4 trillion, according to Credit Suisse’s annual global wealth report published on Tuesday. The bulk of the decline was felt in North American and European households, which lost a combined $10.9 trillion.
Not all regions suffered a hit to wealth. Despite the impact of sanctions, Russia recorded a large wealth increase during the year, adding 56 millionaires, according to the report.
Latin America saw a wealth increase of $2.4 trillion, helped by an average 6 percent currency appreciation against the U.S. dollar, according to the report. The research covered the estimated holdings of 5.4 billion adults around the world and across the wealth spectrum.
“Wealth evolution proved
resilient during the COVID-19 era and grew at a record pace during 2021. But inflation, rising interest rates and currency depreciation caused a reversal in 2022,” Nannette HechlerFayd’herbe, the global head of economics and research at Credit Suisse. Credit Suisse was acquired by UBS earlier this year.
The decline of financial assets also reduced inequality, Hechler-Fayd’herbe said in a press call.
The total number of millionaires fell by 3.5 million to about 59.4 million people, while the globe’s top 1 percent richest loosened their grip: their wealth share fell to 44.5 percent.