Global Wealth Report
GLOBAL WEALTH REPORT 2011 _36
Wealth of nations
Countries differ greatly in the levels and pattern of wealth holdings. The following pages provide a picture of the variety of country circumstances and the range of experiences.
While data quality is good in the rich countries that have most of the world’s wealth, when we look more broadly, quality is far from uniform. On the following pages, we highlight some of the most interesting countries. All of these have data on mean household wealth and evidence on the distribution of wealth across the population. Data quality is rated as no worse than “fair,” meaning that there is at least a recent household survey on wealth. In most of the selected countries quality is “good,” meaning that there is an official household sector balance sheet as well as an acceptable way to estimate wealth distribution. A “satisfactory” rating is given when the data are good but somewhat out of date. The accompanying charts summarize some of the most important facts, giving wealth values on a per adult basis and mainly in terms of US dollars (using official exchange rates).The first chart shows changes in mean wealth over 2000–11. Since exchange-rate fluctuations can alter the apparent trend, for each country, we provide an alternative series using its average USD exchange rate over the twelve years. A typical pattern is a mild decline in mean wealth from 2000 to 2002, an increase to 2006 or 2007, a drop in 2008 and then recovery. Generally, wealth in 2011 is higher than in 2000, but about the same as in 2007. Also, since most currencies appreciated against the US dollar over the period, growth of a country’s wealth usually does not appear as strong using the average exchange rate. Countries that show typical features over 2000–11 include the United States itself (except there is no exchange rate issue), Canada, Denmark, France, and the United Kingdom. Some countries, notably China, India and
Wealth of nations
Countries differ greatly in the levels and pattern of wealth holdings. The following pages provide a picture of the variety of country circumstances and the range of experiences.
While data quality is good in the rich countries that have most of the world’s wealth, when we look more broadly, quality is far from uniform. On the following pages, we highlight some of the most interesting countries. All of these have data on mean household wealth and evidence on the distribution of wealth across the population. Data quality is rated as no worse than “fair,” meaning that there is at least a recent household survey on wealth. In most of the selected countries quality is “good,” meaning that there is an official household sector balance sheet as well as an acceptable way to estimate wealth distribution. A “satisfactory” rating is given when the data are good but somewhat out of date. The accompanying charts summarize some of the most important facts, giving wealth values on a per adult basis and mainly in terms of US dollars (using official exchange rates).The first chart shows changes in mean wealth over 2000–11. Since exchange-rate fluctuations can alter the apparent trend, for each country, we provide an alternative series using its average USD exchange rate over the twelve years. A typical pattern is a mild decline in mean wealth from 2000 to 2002, an increase to 2006 or 2007, a drop in 2008 and then recovery. Generally, wealth in 2011 is higher than in 2000, but about the same as in 2007. Also, since most currencies appreciated against the US dollar over the period, growth of a country’s wealth usually does not appear as strong using the average exchange rate. Countries that show typical features over 2000–11 include the United States itself (except there is no exchange rate issue), Canada, Denmark, France, and the United Kingdom. Some countries, notably China, India and