According to a study, people around the world accumulated above-average wealth in the second year of Corona. The total assets from financial assets and tangible assets minus debts rose in 2021 compared to the previous year by 10.3 percent to a record value of 473 trillion US dollars (around 441 trillion euros), mainly thanks to the boom on the stock markets, shows an analysis by the management consultancy published on Thursday Boston Consulting Group (BCG). It was the strongest increase in more than a decade.
In Germany, an increase of a good 10 percent to 20.2 trillion dollars was calculated. However, wealth is unequally distributed. In Germany alone, according to the information, 3,100 super-rich own more than a fifth of all private financial assets.
The club of the super-rich, each with financial assets of more than 100 million dollars, grew by around 300 members last year. The United States took the top spot with 25,800 super-rich, followed by China with 8,500 members of the club. Germany came in third. Globally, around 69,000 ultra-rich held 15 percent of investable financial assets.
“Traditionally, Germans prefer to invest in real estate than in securities, which is clearly shown by the real asset ratio of more than 65 percent,” explained BCG partner Anna Zakrzewski. According to the study, private financial assets in Germany, which include cash, account balances, shares, shares in investment funds or claims from pensions and life insurance, grew by eight percent to more than nine trillion dollars.
Real assets, including real estate, art and gold, rose by 11 percent to $13 trillion. Real estate in particular has been showing strong increases in value for some time.