New World Wealth has released its W10 report, showing the 10 richest countries in the world.
The wealth analyst also reveals the wealthiest and poorest countries in Africa per capita.
NWW ranks the top 10 countries in the world by “total individual wealth” held – namely the private wealth held by all the individuals in each country.
It includes all their net assets (wealth), including all property, cash, equities and business interests.
Countries ranked by total individual wealth in 2015:
New World Wealth noted that Australia’s ranking is impressive considering it only has 22 million people living there.
India only makes the W10 due to its large population, as on a per capita basis, the country is extremely poor.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, China is the fastest growing W10 country over the past 15 years (2000 – 2015), while India has also shown strong growth, overtaking Italy in the past year.
Wealthiest people in the world
NWW also ranks all known countries by average wealth per person (wealth per capita). As reflected, small tax havens such as Monaco and Liechtenstein top the list.
The UK also features high on the list due to the high value of real estate in the country.
Countries ranked by per capita wealth in 2015
The high average wealth of people living in Monaco reflects:
- Its tax haven status – people living in Monaco pay no income tax. This attracts wealthy people to move there and also promotes business formation in the country.
- Offshore center – Monaco operates as an offshore center for the European wealth sector, which brings a large number of wealthy financiers to the country.
- High proportion of multi-millionaires – approximately 2,200 of Monaco’s 40,000 residents are worth over US$10 million.
Top 20 in Africa
Looking at Africa, Mauritius is by far the richest on a per capita basis with $21,700 averaged per person.
South Africa ranks second with $10,300 which is down from $11,000 a year ago, and is closely followed by Namibia with $10,200.
African wealth per capita in 2015
On a wealth per capita basis, the fastest growing countries in Africa during the past 15 years (2000 – 2015) have been Angola and Ghana.
Notably, Zimbabwe was the only African country to experience a decline in per capita wealth during the 15 year period.
During the past 8 years (since 2007), the fastest growing countries in Africa were Mauritius, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast and Kenya, New World Wealth said.
