To mark its tenth anniversary, this year’s report examines in more detail the underlying factors for the evolution of wealth levels and wealth distribution. The growth records of countries can be quite different depending on whether wealth is measured in US dollars or domestic currencies, or in nominal or inflation-adjusted units. In the longer term, the most successful countries are those that succeed in raising wealth as a multiple of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by addressing institutional and financial-sector deficiencies. This can result in a virtuous cycle in which higher wealth stimulates GDP growth, which in turn raises aggregate wealth. China, India and
Vietnam provide examples of this virtuous cycle in action.
Second, the report looks at the evolution of wealth inequality. The bottom half of wealth holders collectively accounted for less than 1% of total global wealth in mid- 2019, while the richest 10% own 82% of global wealth and the top 1% alone own 45%. Global inequality fell during the first part of this century when a narrowing of gaps between countries was reinforced by declining inequality within countries. While advances by emerging markets continued to narrow the gaps between countries, inequality within countries grew as economies recovered after the global financial crisis. As a result, the top 1% of wealth holders increased their share of world wealth. This trend appears to have abated in 2016 and global inequality is now likely to edge downward in the immediate future.
