How much money each South African is worth

The global net financial assets of private households has surpassed the 100-trillion-euro mark for the first time, according to a new report.

Allianz unveiled the sixth edition of its Global Wealth Report which showed that the gross financial assets of private households increased by 7.1% in 2014, with China particularly strong, accounting for nearly 11% of the world’s financial assets, and overtaking Japan’s share (8.9%) for the first time.

North America still contains as much as 45% of the world’s financial assets, while accounting for only 5% of the global population.

On a country basis, Switzerland is the richest country when it comes to net financial assets per capita. In 2014, the average resident boasted €157,446 (R2.4 million) in financial assets.

The US was second with €138,714 (R2.1 million) per capita, and the UK third, with €86.230 (R1.3 million).

South Africa’s gross financial assets combined account for 0.27% of the world’s assets.

The country ranks 35th on the study’s list of 53 countries for net capita financial assets of €7,074 (R108,000).

By Gross capita financial assets, South Africa is 38th on the list with €9,456 (R144,000).

Kazakhstan is last on the list with €406 (R6,200) net financial assets, while India is last for gross financial assets per capita of €1,038 (R15,800).

It must be stressed that in order to rule out exchange rate distortions over time, the financial assets were converted into the national currency based on the fixed exchange rate at the end of 2014.

A report out last month by Momentum/Unisa Household Wealth Index showed the average net wealth of a South African to be at R114,547.

Gross financial assets are the combined total of bank deposits, securities, insurance and pension funds. Net financial assets are calculated by subtracting debt from the gross financial assets.

The Allianz Global Wealth Report is based on data from 53 countries. This group of countries covers almost 91% of global GDP and 69% of the global population.

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