Ranked: Top Countries by Stock Market Ownership

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The rise of no-fee investment platforms have pushed people into the stock market, particularly those under the age of 35.

But some countries have a mature investment landscape, with a higher share of the population already holding invested assets.

We rank the stock ownership rate for 32 countries using data from HelloSafe, a financial services comparison website. They used the latest available figures available at the World Bank from 2023–2024.

This data includes direct shareholding as well as exposure via life insurance and pension funds.

Which Countries Are Most Invested in the Stock Market?

More than half of the American population (55%) is invested in the stock market, the highest for any country in this dataset.

Ranked second, 49% of all Canadians are invested, and the two North American countries are far ahead of the rest of the world.

Many of the top 10 countries have public pension funds linked to markets, which may help increase their ownership rates.

Interestingly, the two most populous countries in the world, India and China both have single-digit stock market ownership rates at 6% and 7% respectively.

However even these small shares are large shareholding communities, numbering nearly 100 million each.

Ticket to Turbulence

The first four months of the new Trump presidency has been the single-worst start to a term for financial markets.

Before the newest pause on tariffs, the S&P 500 had lost 15% of its value since January, the most for a new term since the index started in 1957.

However, as the White House reinstated yet another pause on its earlier announced tariffs, markets regained some of its lost ground. (It’s still down 7% YTD as of writing this post).

With more than half of the American population invested, this turbulent ride is being widely felt.

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The S&P 500 has outperformed every other stock exchange in the world since 2015. Check out: Top Countries by Stock Market Returns Since 2015 to see where other top exchanges like the DAX and FTSE rank.