The Swiss bank UBS published its annual wealth report, according to which the Swiss have the highest financial assets per capita, while the Belgians have the highest median wealth – the amount that divides the population into two equal groups: half have wealth above the median and the other half below.
Many experts believe that median wealth provides the most accurate picture of wealth since it identifies the middle point of a dataset, with half of the data points above this number, and half falling below it.
In this way, one-time influences such as the number of billionaires, of which there are thousands in the United States (U.S.) and Switzerland, are eliminated.
On the other hand, the average wealth gives you the true average, although it is distorted by the aforementioned billionaires. According to the UBS bank, the average global wealth per adult is 84.718 dollars.
By these measures, Switzerland ranks at the top at 685.226 dollars per person. Over 15% of the population are millionaires, the third-highest rate in the world. However, when looking at median wealth per person, it stands at 167.353 dollars, a difference of over 517.000 dollars.
Five of the ten richest countries by average wealth are located in Western Europe, including Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, and Belgium.
The U.S. ranks second with an average wealth per adult of 551.347 dollars. Overall, the U.S. is home to 38 percent of the world’s millionaires, surpassing the second-richest country, China, by more than three times. With a large wealth gap, inequality in the U.S. is among the highest among developed nations.
When viewed from a median wealth perspective, Belgium ranks the highest, overtaking Australia for the first time. High home ownership levels and elevated home prices have led household wealth to rise above other European countries, Biznis Info reports.
E.Dz.
