Revealed: Countries with richest individuals
Most often, it’s the gross domestic product (GDP) of a country that is used to measure the wealth of a nation but if we take into account the individual wealth the global ranking changes.
A new list by New World Wealth, a company that provides information on the global wealth sector, reveals the wealthiest countries in the world ranked by total individual wealth held. The study also looks into the highest per capita wealth in the world.
In the Middle East, Qatar comes on top of the list with the highest per capita wealth ($108290) followed by United Arab Emirates with $76470 in wealth.
Middle East: Selected countries ranked by per capita wealth, 2015 |
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Rank |
Country |
Wealth per capita (US$) |
1 |
Qatar |
108 290 |
2 |
United Arab Emirates |
76 470 |
3 |
Kuwait |
72 590 |
|
|
|
5 |
Bahrain |
28 140 |
6 |
Oman |
25 830 |
7 |
Saudi Arabia |
22 900 |
8 |
Lebanon |
18 650 |
9 |
Turkey |
13 230 |
10 |
Jordan |
7 400 |
Source: NW-Wealth.com |
Globally, United States comes on top of the list, followed by China, Japan, Germany and United Kingdom in the top five when the total individual wealth is taken into account.
Total individual wealth refers to the private wealth held by all the individuals in each country. It includes all their net assets (wealth), including all property, cash, equities and business interests.
Globally, United States comes on top of the list, followed by China, Japan, Germany and United Kingdom in the top five when the total individual wealth is taken into account.
W20: Countries ranked by total individual wealth, 2015
Rank |
Country |
Wealth (US$ billion) |
1 |
United States |
48 734 |
2 |
China |
17 254 |
3 |
Japan |
15 230 |
4 |
Germany |
9 358 |
5 |
United Kingdom |
9 240 |
6 |
France |
8 722 |
7 |
Italy |
7 308 |
8 |
Canada |
4 796 |
9 |
Australia |
4 497 |
10 |
India |
3 492 |
11 |
Spain |
3 123 |
12 |
Brazil |
2 687 |
13 |
South Korea |
2 269 |
14 |
Switzerland |
2 195 |
15 |
Mexico |
1 865 |
16 |
Netherlands |
1 848 |
17 |
Belgium |
1 523 |
18 |
Russian Federation |
1 473 |
19 |
Indonesia |
1 424 |
20 |
Sweden |
1 387 |
Source: NW-Wealth.com |
The ranking changes if the average wealth is taken into account. Certain countries such as India and Indonesia, only make the W20 due to their large populations. On a per capita basis, they are quite poor.
Surprisingly, the UK ranks ahead of Sweden and well ahead of Germany on this measure. This is mainly down to the high value of real estate in the UK. Also in Germany, many people do not own their homes and rent instead – this negatively impacts on their total net assets (wealth), the study highlights.
W20: Countries ranked by per capita wealth, 2015
Rank |
Country |
Wealth per capita (US$) |
1 |
Switzerland |
285 100 |
2 |
Australia |
204 400 |
3 |
United States |
150 600 |
4 |
United Kingdom |
147 600 |
5 |
Sweden |
146 000 |
6 |
Belgium |
141 000 |
7 |
Canada |
139 000 |
8 |
France |
138 000 |
9 |
Italy |
121 000 |
10 |
Japan |
120 300 |
11 |
Germany |
114 400 |
12 |
Netherlands |
108 700 |
13 |
Spain |
67 900 |
14 |
South Korea |
46 300 |
15 |
Mexico |
16 500 |
16 |
Brazil |
13 500 |
17 |
China |
12 800 |
18 |
Russian Federation |
10 600 |
19 |
Indonesia |
6 000 |
20 |
India |
2 800 |
Source: NW-Wealth.com |
There are several wealthy countries (on a wealth per capita basis) that do not make the W20 due to their low populations. The following table ranks all known countries by wealth per capita.
World: Top 10 wealth per capita rankings, 2015 |
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Rank |
Country |
Wealth per capita (US$) |
1 |
Monaco |
1 525 000 |
2 |
Liechtenstein |
620 000 |
3 |
Switzerland |
285 100 |
4 |
Australia |
204 400 |
5 |
Norway |
200 000 |
6 |
Luxembourg |
181 600 |
7 |
Singapore |
158 300 |
8 |
United States |
150 600 |
9 |
United Kingdom |
147 600 |
10 |
Sweden |
146 000 |
Source: NW-Wealth.com |