Rising numbers of millionaires in the fast-growing economies of China and India helped to push global private wealth to $168tn (£115tn) in 2015.
The 5.2% increase in wealth among the world’s richest individuals was driven largely by the Asia-Pacific area, which is expected to overtake western Europe as the second wealthiest region behind North America next year.
The annual snapshot measures private wealth by cash, deposits and assets such as shares and bonds, but excludes property.
China recorded one of the the biggest jumps in millionaire households of all countries in the BCG annual wealth report, up 27% to 2.07m. Sustained economic growth has created a new class of wealthy individuals in the world’s second largest economy, including Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce business Alibaba, and the country’s richest man, the property tycoon Wang Jianlin. The number of millionaire households in India jumped by a quarter last year, to 71,876.
In a reflection of the global shift in economic power, the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan, experienced the strongest rate of growth in private wealth, although it remained behind North America and western Europe in total wealth.
Asia-Pacific was the only region to post double-digit growth, up 13% at $37tn, with China “the principal growth motor”, BCG said, despite slowing economic growth in the region and increasing market volatility.
“China and India have strong GDP growth and that has fuelled a lot of wealth creation,” said Anna Zakrzewski, one of the report’s authors.
Despite the rise in global wealth in 2015, the growth rate slowed in all regions apart from Japan, where a government stimulus drive boosted asset values.
BCG said the growth in global private wealth hit a “speed bump” in 2015, slowing to 5.2% from 7.5% in 2014 as weaker financial markets and slowing growth weighed on most regions. However, global financial wealth is expected to continue to rise over the next few years, hitting $224tn in 2020.
The TUC, the umbrella body for British trade unions, said there was still a huge gap between the wealthy and the poorer sections of society.
Paul Nowak, the TUC’s deputy general secretary, said: “For all the moral angst being expressed by business leaders and politicians about growing wealth inequality, very little is being done to change the status quo.
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SOURCE: Angela Monaghan
The Guardian
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