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Estimating the Level and Distribution of Global Household Wealth

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Abstract

We provide the first estimate of the level and distribution of global household wealth. Mean assets and debts within countries are measured, partly or wholly, for 39 countries using household balance sheet and survey data centred on the year 2000. Determinants of mean financial assets, non-financial assets, and liabilities are studied empirically, and the results are used to impute values to countries lacking wealth data. Household wealth per adult is US$43,494 in PPP terms, and ranges regionally from US$11,655 in Africa to US$193,147 in North America. Data on the shape of the household distribution of wealth for 20 countries, accounting for 59 per cent of the world’s population and, we estimate, 84 per cent of its wealth are used to establish patterns of wealth inequality within countries. Imputations are again performed for countries lacking wealth data, on the basis of the observed relation between wealth and income distribution for the 20 countries with data. The Gini coefficient for the global distribution of wealth is 0.804, and the share of the top 10 per cent is 71 per cent. Wealth of US$8,325 is needed to be in the top half of the distribution, and US$517,601 is needed to be in the top one per cent. Between-country differences in wealth are two-thirds of global inequality according to the Gini coefficient, indicating a larger role for withincountry inequality than in the case of income according to recent estimates.

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  • James B. Davies & Susanna Sandström & Anthony Shorrocks & Edward N. Wolff, 2007. "Estimating the Level and Distribution of Global Household Wealth," University of Western Ontario, Economic Policy Research Institute Working Papers 20075, University of Western Ontario, Economic Policy Research Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:uwo:epuwoc:20075
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    Cited by:

    1. Olympia Bover, 2010. "Wealth Inequality And Household Structure: U.S. Vs. Spain," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 56(2), pages 259-290, June.
    2. Popov, Vladimir, 2014. "Socialism is dead, long live socialism!," MPRA Paper 54294, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Brinca, Pedro & Holter, Hans A. & Krusell, Per & Malafry, Laurence, 2016. "Fiscal multipliers in the 21st century," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 53-69.
    4. Popov, Vladimir, 2023. "Why the rich and the poor value freedom and equality differently," MPRA Paper 116563, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Popov, Vladimir, 2019. "Billionaires, millionaires, inequality, and happiness," MPRA Paper 94081, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. James B. Davies & Susanna Sandström & Anthony Shorrocks & Edward Wolff, 2009. "The global pattern of household wealth," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(8), pages 1111-1124.
    7. Pirmin Fessler & Martin Schürz, 2013. "Cross-Country Comparability of the Eurosystem Household Finance and Consumption Survey," Monetary Policy & the Economy, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue 2, pages 29-50.
    8. Thomas Goda, 2018. "The global concentration of wealth [Persistence of power, elites, and institutions]," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 42(1), pages 95-115.
    9. Davies, James B. & Sandstrom, Susanna & Shorrocks, Anthony & Wolff, Edward N., 2006. "The World Distribution of Household Wealth," Conference papers 331490, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    10. Anthony F. Shorrocks & Guanghua Wan, 2008. "Ungrouping Income Distributions: Synthesising Samples for Inequality and Poverty Analysis," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2008-16, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    11. Popov, Vladimir, 2018. "Paradoxes of Happiness: Why People Feel More Comfortable With High Inequalities And High Murder Rates?," MPRA Paper 87118, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Thomas Goda, 2014. "Global trends in relative and absolute wealth concentrations," Documentos de Trabajo de Valor Público 10897, Universidad EAFIT.
    13. Polterovich, Victor & Popov, Vladimir & Tonis, Alexander, 2009. "Instability of Democracy as Resource Curse," MPRA Paper 22069, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    Keywords

    wealth; net worth; personal assets; inequality; households; balance sheets; portfolios;
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