For the first time since the global financial crisis of 2008, global household wealth in 2022 (in US dollars) decreased on aggregate as well as on a per-adult basis, both in nominal and real terms. Wealth per adult also recorded the second-largest reduction since 2000.
This was revealed in a recent Credit Suisse-UBS report by the Swiss Bank’s Family Office and UHNW (ultra-high net worth) division. The fourteenth edition of the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report which this year is published jointly with UBS, covers estimates of the wealth holdings of 5.4 billion adults around the world and across the wealth spectrum.
Measured in current nominal US dollar terms, total net private wealth declined USD 11.3 trillion (-2.4 per cent) to USD 454.4 trillion at the end of 2022. Wealth per adult also declined by USD 3,198 (-3.6 per cent) to reach USD 84,718 per adult.
Much of this decline comes from the appreciation of the US dollar against many other currencies. Financial assets, like stocks and currency deposits, contributed most to wealth declines in 2022 while non-financial assets (mostly real estate) stayed strong, despite rapidly rising interest rates.
However, the report cautioned that the relative contributions of financial and non-financial assets may reverse in 2023 if house prices decline in response to higher interest rates. (ANI)
