Who Sits at the Top of the Global Wealth Pyramid?

Just 29 million ultra-high net worth individuals hold nearly 40% of the world’s wealth, according to research by a leading international bank.

The group covers a select club of the world’s richest people who own net assets worth more than US$1 million.

Numbering just 0.6% of the world’s population, they sit atop of the wealth pyramid, while more than two thirds of people in the world (69%) have net assets of $10,000 or less and hold a meagre 3.3% of global wealth between them.

This astonishing data was compiled in Credit Suisse’s Global Wealth Report 2012.

In between the richest and the poorest are two other wealthy groups –

• The middle rich with net assets of between $10,000 and $100,000, who make up 22.5% of the world’s population and hold 14.4% of the assets

• The high net wealthy with net assets of $100,000 to $1 million who comprise the remaining 7.5% of the population and have 43% of the assets.

In summary, around 30% of the world’s population own 97% of the wealth, according to the report.

What makes someone rich?

The 373 million individuals who live in the top two sections of the pyramid mainly come from North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific (89%).

Africa, India and China have a low representation according to the sizes of their populations – with Europe alone having 141 million (38%) of the total, compared with just over 1% living in India and Africa combined.

The big question is what makes the wealthy rich?

The bank’s report found three factors impacted on wealth –

• Population in the country were the individual lives

• The nation’s average wealth level

• Wealth inequality within the country

Only 15 countries have more than 1% in the top tiers of the pyramid, led by the USA with 21% of the total. Japan is second with 18%, leaving the other 13 floundering some distance behind.

Wealth disparity

Credit Suisse reckons 84,500 individuals are worth $50 million or more – with 29,300 having more than $100 million and 2,700 with at least $500 million.

Most live in the US (47%) – followed by Europe with 26% and 15% in the Asia-Pacific, excluding China and India.

By country, the US leads with around 40,000 ultra-high net worth individuals – ahead of China (4,700), Germany (4,000), Japan (3,400), Britain (3,200) and Switzerland (3,050).

“Many factors contribute to the disparity in personal wealth. Some individuals are at the early stages of their career that have had little chance to yet accumulate assets, those who have suffered business setbacks or personal misfortunes, and those who simply live in parts of the world where opportunities for wealth creation are severely limited,” said the report.

“At the other end of the spectrum, there are individuals who have acquired a large fortune through a combination of talent, hard work or simply being in the right place at the right time.”