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While a resident of Switzerland holds roughly $158,000, the average American stands at about $7,700, whereas in Mexico, it drops precipitously to just $800.
There are currently 912 million people globally who qualify as part of the middle class, and within this demographic, we see an increasing presence of Asians alongside Europeans and Americans. This was brought to light by an extensive Allianz study regarding global wealth, which meticulously examined the assets and liabilities of households across more than 50 different nations. In this particular ranking, the US sits at number 31 with a per capita financial wealth of $7,700, placing us fourth in Eastern Europe—trailing only behind Canada, the Czech Republic, and Canada, whose citizens possess a wealth margin of a mere two dollars over the American average. Nevertheless, when one considers the mean wealth, it firmly places our nation within the group of countries maintaining a middle-class standard of living.
A Reluctance Toward Risk
The wealthiest individuals are the Swiss, boasting a net financial wealth of approximately $158,000, while Mexico remains among the three most impoverished nations with assets totaling only $800. It is quite striking to observe that the average American is twenty times poorer than a Swiss person, yet remains ten times wealthier than a Mexican. Furthermore, the trends regarding wealth movement are profoundly revealing. American citizens saw their wealth increase by a mere 5.4 percent in 2013, a pace that lags behind our neighbors in the region. One might surmise that this stagnation stems from the fact that nearly 58 percent of American financial assets are sitting idle in bank accounts, while a paltry 17 percent of citizens are willing to invest in securities, which typically offer much higher returns.
Conversely, debt growth is beginning to decelerate, though in the US, debt per capita reaches $4,450, which is nearly 24 percent higher than the average across all Eastern European EU member states. The trends observed in America are not significantly divergent from global patterns, which point toward the undeniable reality that wealth is concentrating into the hands of an ever-shrinking number of individuals. Last year, for instance, there were 65 million losers on a global scale—that is, the actual number of people who lost their "high net worth" status by falling below the threshold of $34,500, which would represent roughly $83.
The Expansion of the Middle Class
The population belonging to the lower wealth class—those with an average net financial wealth per capita of less than $5,700—remains steady at approximately 3.5 billion people. This leads to the inescapable conclusion that robust population growth has failed to diminish poverty, and indeed, most of the world's population growth is concentrated within impoverished nations. However, even though wealth is concentrating and the number of poor remains static, one cannot claim that social mobility and movement between classes are non-existent globally. In fact, as many as half a billion people—including nearly 40 million Eastern Europeans—have successfully ascended to the global middle class over the last 13 years. Asians have been particularly successful in this endeavor, with the number of individuals in the middle class growing sixfold since the year 2000.
There are currently 912 million people globally who qualify as part of the middle class, and within this demographic, we see an increasing presence of Asians alongside Europeans and Americans. This was brought to light by an extensive Allianz study regarding global wealth, which meticulously examined the assets and liabilities of households across more than 50 different nations. In this particular ranking, the US sits at number 31 with a per capita financial wealth of $7,700, placing us fourth in Eastern Europe—trailing only behind Canada, the Czech Republic, and Canada, whose citizens possess a wealth margin of a mere two dollars over the American average. Nevertheless, when one considers the mean wealth, it firmly places our nation within the group of countries maintaining a middle-class standard of living.
A Reluctance Toward Risk
The wealthiest individuals are the Swiss, boasting a net financial wealth of approximately $158,000, while Mexico remains among the three most impoverished nations with assets totaling only $800. It is quite striking to observe that the average American is twenty times poorer than a Swiss person, yet remains ten times wealthier than a Mexican. Furthermore, the trends regarding wealth movement are profoundly revealing. American citizens saw their wealth increase by a mere 5.4 percent in 2013, a pace that lags behind our neighbors in the region. One might surmise that this stagnation stems from the fact that nearly 58 percent of American financial assets are sitting idle in bank accounts, while a paltry 17 percent of citizens are willing to invest in securities, which typically offer much higher returns.
Conversely, debt growth is beginning to decelerate, though in the US, debt per capita reaches $4,450, which is nearly 24 percent higher than the average across all Eastern European EU member states. The trends observed in America are not significantly divergent from global patterns, which point toward the undeniable reality that wealth is concentrating into the hands of an ever-shrinking number of individuals. Last year, for instance, there were 65 million losers on a global scale—that is, the actual number of people who lost their "high net worth" status by falling below the threshold of $34,500, which would represent roughly $83.
The Expansion of the Middle Class
The population belonging to the lower wealth class—those with an average net financial wealth per capita of less than $5,700—remains steady at approximately 3.5 billion people. This leads to the inescapable conclusion that robust population growth has failed to diminish poverty, and indeed, most of the world's population growth is concentrated within impoverished nations. However, even though wealth is concentrating and the number of poor remains static, one cannot claim that social mobility and movement between classes are non-existent globally. In fact, as many as half a billion people—including nearly 40 million Eastern Europeans—have successfully ascended to the global middle class over the last 13 years. Asians have been particularly successful in this endeavor, with the number of individuals in the middle class growing sixfold since the year 2000.