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All of the World’s Wealth in One Visualization

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Total wealth by country in 2019, visualized

All of the World’s Wealth in One Visualization

The financial concept of wealth is broad, and it can take many forms.

While your wealth is most likely driven by the dollars in your bank account and the value of your stock portfolio and house, wealth also includes a number of smaller things as well, such as the old furniture in your garage or a painting on the wall.

From the macro perspective of a country, wealth is even more all-encompassing — it’s not just about the assets held by private households or businesses, but also those owned by the public. What is the value of a new toll bridge, or an aging nuclear power plant?

Today’s visualization comes to us from HowMuch.net, and it shows all of the world’s wealth in one place, sorted by country.

Total Wealth by Region

In 2019, total world wealth grew by $9.1 trillion to $360.6 trillion, which amounts to a 2.6% increase over the previous year.

Here’s how that divvies up between major global regions:

RegionTotal Wealth ($B, 2019)% Global Share
North America$114,60731.8%
Europe$90,75225.2%
Asia-Pacific$64,77818.0%
China$63,82717.7%
India$12,6143.5%
Latin America$9,9062.7%
Africa$4,1191.1%
World$360,603100.0%

Last year, growth in global wealth exceeded that of the population, incrementally increasing wealth per adult to $70,850, a 1.2% bump and an all-time high.

That said, it’s worth mentioning that Credit Suisse, the authors of the Global Wealth Report 2019 and the source of all this data, notes that the 1.2% increase has not been adjusted for inflation.

Ranking Countries by Total Wealth

Which countries are the richest?

Let’s take a look at the 15 countries that hold the most wealth, according to Credit Suisse:

RankCountryRegionTotal Wealth ($B, 2019)% Global Share
#1🇺🇸 United StatesNorth America$105,99029.4%
#2🇨🇳 ChinaChina$63,82717.7%
#3🇯🇵 JapanAsia-Pacific$24,9926.9%
#4🇩🇪 GermanyEurope$14,6604.1%
#5🇬🇧 United KingdomEurope$14,3414.0%
#6🇫🇷 FranceEurope$13,7293.8%
#7🇮🇳 IndiaIndia$12,6143.5%
#8🇮🇹 ItalyEurope$11,3583.1%
#9🇨🇦 CanadaNorth America$8,5732.4%
#10🇪🇸 SpainEurope$7,7722.2%
#11🇰🇷 South KoreaAsia-Pacific$7,3022.0%
#12🇦🇺 AustraliaAsia-Pacific$7,2022.0%
#13🇹🇼 TaiwanAsia-Pacific$4,0621.1%
#14🇨🇭 SwitzerlandEurope$3,8771.1%
#15🇳🇱 NetherlandsEurope$3,7191.0%
All Other Countries$56,58515.7%
Global Total$360,603100.0%

The 15 wealthiest nations combine for 84.3% of global wealth.

Leading the pack is the United States, which holds $106.0 trillion of the world’s wealth — equal to a 29.4% share of the global total. Interestingly, the United States economy makes up 23.9% of the size of the world economy in comparison.

Behind the U.S. is China, the only other country with a double-digit share of global wealth, equal to 17.7% of wealth or $63.8 trillion. As the country continues to build out its middle class, one estimate sees Chinese private wealth increasing by 119.5% over the next decade.

Impressively, the combined wealth of the U.S. and China is more than the next 13 countries in aggregate — and almost equal to half of the global wealth total.

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Ranked: Top Countries for Foreign Direct Investment Flows

Take a look at changes in foreign direct investment flows over a decade, analyzing the top destinations and biggest investors.

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A cropped chart showing the top foreign investment flows between 2012–2022.

One of the most significant phenomena in 21st-century globalization, driven by the ascent of multinational corporations and the removal of investing barriers, is the vast cross-border flow of foreign capital.

To analyze recent trends, Samidha Nayak utilized World Bank data spanning 2012–2022, charting the top 10 destinations for foreign direct investment (FDI) and the leading investing countries annually.

A chart showing the top foreign direct investment flows (inflows) between 2012–2022.

Countries With the Most FDI Inflows (2012–2022)

In 2012, the United States had the highest FDI inflow, attracting about $250 billion in investment from the rest of the world.

ℹ️ Foreign direct investment is when a resident in one economy has 10 percent or more of the ordinary shares of voting stock of a resident enterprise in a different economy.

At second place, China’s FDI inflows stood about $9 billion lower at $241 billion.

The middle ranks have representatives from Europe (Netherlands, Cyprus), from Asia (Hong Kong) and from South America (Brazil).

Towards the bottom, three OECD countries—Germany, Ireland, and Australia—all attracted an average of $60 billion in foreign investment.

Unexpectedly, the British Virgin Islands came in 8th. Their lack of corporate tax makes it a popular place for companies to headquarter, in turn attracting FDI inflows.

2012Country2012 Inflows
(USD Billion)
2022Country2022 Inflows
(USD Billion)
1🇺🇸 U.S.$250.351🇺🇸 U.S.$388.08
2🇨🇳 China$241.212🇨🇳 China$180.17
3🇳🇱 Netherlands$239.673🇸🇬 Singapore$140.84
4🇧🇷 Brazil$92.574🇭🇰 Hong Kong$120.95
5🇭🇰 Hong Kong$74.895🇫🇷 France$105.42
6🇨🇾 Cyprus$69.976🇧🇷 Brazil$91.50
7🇩🇪 Germany$65.447🇦🇺 Australia$67.12
8🇻🇬 British Virgin Islands$61.128🇨🇦 Canada$53.71
9🇮🇪 Ireland$58.099🇸🇪 Sweden$50.05
10🇦🇺 Australia$57.5510🇮🇳 India$49.94

Ten years later however, the top 10 saw a shuffle. The U.S. and China retained their top spots, but the difference grew much larger—with the U.S. attracting nearly 50% more foreign investment ($388 billion) than China ($180 billion).

Singapore, which first appeared in the rankings in 2014, took third place with $141 billion.

Meanwhile the bottom half changed almost entirely with France, Canada, Sweden, and India replacing Cyprus, Germany, the British Virgin Islands, and Ireland.

Countries With the Most FDI Outflows (2012–2022)

Unlike the ranks of net inflows, the top 10 countries with the highest FDI outflows have stayed essentially the same.

A chart showing the top foreign direct investment flows (outflows) between 2012–2022.

The U.S. topped the list in both ends of the decade, despite briefly falling out of the top 10 entirely in 2018. There were only three new entrants (France, Australia, and the UK) in 2022 compared to 10 years prior, with Cyprus, Switzerland, and the British Virgin Islands dropping out of top spots.

2012Country2012 Outflows
(USD Billion)
2022Country2022 Outflows
(USD Billion)
1🇺🇸 U.S.$377.241🇺🇸 U.S.$426.25
2🇳🇱 Netherlands$237.942🇩🇪 Germany$178.87
3🇯🇵 Japan$117.633🇯🇵 Japan$175.40
4🇩🇪 Germany$99.084🇬🇧 UK$158.93
5🇭🇰 Hong Kong$88.125🇨🇳 China$149.69
6🇨🇾 Cyprus$75.256🇳🇱 Netherlands$125.89
7🇨🇳 China$64.967🇦🇺 Australia$123.36
8🇨🇦 Canada$62.258🇫🇷 France$118.76
9🇨🇭Switzerland$54.309🇭🇰 Hong Kong$106.86
10🇻🇬 British Virgin Islands$53.9410🇨🇦 Canada$83.11

Many of the countries who are in the top ranks for inflows (U.S., China, Canada, Australia) are also in the top ranks for outflows both in 2012 and 2022.

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