Connect with us

Economy

This Simple Chart Reveals the Distribution Of Global Wealth

Published

on

Visualizing Global Wealth Distribution

Can I share this graphic?
Yes. Visualizations are free to share and post in their original form across the web—even for publishers. Please link back to this page and attribute Visual Capitalist.
When do I need a license?
Licenses are required for some commercial uses, translations, or layout modifications. You can even whitelabel our visualizations. Explore your options.
Interested in this piece?
Click here to license this visualization.

The Global Wealth Distribution in One Chart

The pandemic resulted in global wealth taking a significant dip in the first part of 2020. By the end of March, global household wealth had already declined by around 4.4%.

Interestingly, after much monetary and fiscal stimulus from governments around the world, global household wealth was more than able to recover, finishing up the year at $418.3 trillion, a 7.4% gain from the previous year.

Using data from Credit Suisse, this graphic looks at how global wealth is distributed among the adult population.

How is Global Wealth Distributed?

While individuals worth more than $1 million constitute just 1.1% of the world’s population, they hold 45.8% of global wealth.

Wealth RangeWealthGlobal Share (%)Adult Population
Over $1M$191.6 trillion45.8%Held by 1.1%
$100k-$1M$163.9 trillion39.1%Held by 11.1%
$10k-$100k$57.3 trillion13.7%Held by 32.8%
Less than $10k$5.5 trillion1.3%Held by 55.0%
Total$418.3 trillion100.0%Held by 100.0%

On the other end of the spectrum, 55% of the population owns only 1.3% of global wealth.

And between these two extreme wealth distribution cases, the rest of the world’s population has a combined 52.8% of the wealth.

Global Wealth Distribution by Region

While wealth inequality is especially evident within the wealth ranges mentioned above, these differences can also be seen on a more regional basis between countries.

In 2020, total wealth rose by $12.4 trillion in North America and $9.2 trillion in Europe. These two regions accounted for the bulk of the wealth gains, with China adding another $4.2 trillion and the Asia-Pacific region (excluding China and India) another $4.7 trillion.

Here is a breakdown of global wealth distribution by region:

RegionTotal Wealth
(US$B)
Change in Total Wealth
(US$B)
Change %Wealth Per Adult
(US$)
Change %
North America136,31612,37010.0486,9309.1
Europe103,2139,1799.8174,8369.8
Asia-Pacific75,2774,6946.760,7905.0
China74,8844,2466.067,7715.4
India12,833-594-4.414,252-6.1
Latin America10,872-1,215-10.124,301-11.4
Africa4,946360.77,371-2.1
World418,34228,7167.479,9526.0

India and Latin America both recorded losses in 2020.

Total wealth fell in India by $594 billion, or 4.4%. Meanwhile, Latin America appears to have been the worst-performing region, with total wealth dropping by 11.4% or $1.2 trillion.

Post-COVID Global Outlook 2020-2025

Despite the burden of COVID-19 on the global economy, the world can expect robust GDP growth in the coming years, especially in 2021. The latest estimates by the International Monetary Fund in April 2021 suggest that global GDP in 2021 will total $100.1 trillion in nominal terms, up by 4.1% compared to last year.

The link in normal times between GDP growth and household wealth growth, combined with the expected rapid return of economic activity to its pre-pandemic levels, suggests that global wealth could grow again at a fast pace. According to Credit Suisse estimates, global wealth may rise by 39% over the next five years.

Low and middle-income countries will also play an essential role in the coming year. They are responsible for 42% of the growth, even though they account for just 33% of current wealth.

Click for Comments

Economy

Mapped: Unemployment Claims by State

This visual heatmap of unemployment claims by state highlights New York, California, and Alaska leading the country by a wide margin.

Published

on

Mapped: Weekly Unemployment Claims by State

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Unemployment claims per 100,000 people is a handy metric for gauging the health of the job market. Generally speaking, a higher number of claims suggests that more people are unemployed, which may highlight issues with the economy.

In this graphic, we’ve visualized the number of weekly initial unemployment claims per 100,000 people in the labor force across the U.S., using data from WalletHub. All figures are for the week ending Feb 26, 2024, with data being released in early March.

StateUnemployment Claims
per 100,000 People
in the Labor Force
New York305
California246
Alaska227
New Jersey180
Vermont169
Connecticut162
Pennsylvania161
Hawaii161
Wisconsin145
Massachusetts144
Nevada142
DC138
Washington134
Rhode Island133
Oregon130
Illinois127
Minnesota121
Michigan118
Idaho117
Wyoming112
New Hampshire111
West Virginia108
Iowa106
Montana102
Texas100
Maine96
Ohio95
Colorado86
Arkansas86
Arizona85
Georgia85
Tennessee83
Alabama80
Missouri79
New Mexico77
Kansas74
Indiana73
Kentucky71
North Dakota70
South Carolina69
Louisiana68
Mississippi67
Maryland64
Oklahoma58
North Carolina55
Nebraska52
Utah52
Florida51
Virginia48
Delaware42
South Dakota28

Across the country, there are 6.1 million Americans unemployed as of end of February, resulting in a national unemployment rate of around 3.9%. Notably, this is the highest figure seen since January 2022.

States With the Largest Increases

For further context, we can examine the change in unemployment claims by state for the period of Jan 1- Feb 26, in 2024 and 2023.

States that saw the biggest rise over this period were New York, New Jersey, and Nevada. A top 10 list can be found below.

StateChange in
Unemployment Claims
(Jan-Feb, 2023 vs 2024)
New York2,725%
New Jersey2,132%
Nevada505%
Arizona51%
Iowa45%
Maryland35%
North Carolina34%
Virginia31%
Montana25%
Oklahoma24%

From a broader perspective, weekly initial claims for unemployment insurance across the U.S. have hovered around the low 200,000s in 2024. This is generally in line with figures seen prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the week of April 4, 2020, unemployment claims spiked to 6.137 million due to COVID-related lockdowns and business closures.

Learn More About the U.S Job Market

Before you go, be sure to check out Visualizing the American Workforce as 100 People to gain a unique perspective on the U.S. economy.

Continue Reading
NOVAGOLD. Pure Gold. Precious Opportunity.

Subscribe

Popular