WASHINGTON – According to a report by New World Wealth, the United Statesis the wealthiest country in the world as the total wealth held in 2017amounted to USD 64,584 billion, followed by China at the second place withUSD 24,803 billion and Japan with USD 19,522 billion at third.
Total wealth, refers to the private wealth held by all the individualsliving in each country/city. It includes all their assets (property, cash,equities, business interests) less any liabilities. The report, however,excludes government funds from its figures.
Others in the list include United Kingdom (4th, USD 9,919 billion), Germany(5th, USD 9,660 billion), France (7th, USD 6,649 billion), Canada (8th, USD6,393 billion), Australia (9th, USD 6,142 billion) and Italy (10th, USD4,276 billion).
The report further noted that India was the best performing wealth marketglobally in 2017 as its total wealth swelled from USD 6,584 billion in 2016to USD 8,230 billion in 2017, registering a 25 per cent growth.
Meanwhile, during the period under consideration China’s wealth saw anincrease of 22 per cent and global wealth rose by 12 per cent (from USD 192trillion at the end of 2016 to USD 215 trillion at the end of 2017).
Over the past decade (2007-2017) India’s total wealth increased from USD3,165 billion in 2007 to USD 8,230 billion in 2017, a jump of 160 per cent.
The report further noted that India, is home to 3,30,400 HNWIs (individualswith USD 1 million or more in net assets). Globally, India was ranked 9thin this aspect while US topped the list with 50,47,400 HNWIs(high-net-worth individuals).
India is also home to 20,730 multi-millionaires, 7th largest in the world.And in terms of resident billionaires, India with 119 such individuals wasnamed among the top three countries globally, after the US and China.
A billionaire is defined as an individual with USD 1 billion or more in netassets.
“In general, it was a good year for all W10 (wealthiest 10) markets, thanksto strong global stock market gains – the MSCI world index was up 23 percent and the Dow Jones (DJIA) was up 26 per cent during the year (in USDterms),” the report said, adding “wealth held in China, India, USA, Japanand Australia all grew strongly over the past year”.