Global wealth has tripled over the last two decades, with China leading and overtaking the US. That’s one of the key takeaways from a new report by the research arm of consultants McKinsey & Co. that examined the national balance sheets of ten countries representing more than 60% of world income. China accounted for almost one-third of the increase. Its wealth had skyrocketed to $120 trillion from a mere $7 trillion in 2000, the year before it joined the World Trade Organization, speeding its economic journey.
The US, held back by more muted increases in property prices, saw its net worth more than double over the period, to $90 trillion. In both countries – the world’s biggest economies – more than two-thirds of the wealth is held by the wealthiest 10% of households, and their share has been increasing, the report said.
“We are now wealthier than we have ever been,” Jan Mischke, a partner at the McKinsey Global Institute in Zurich, said in an interview. As computed by McKinsey, 68% of global net worth is stored in real estate.
