Pakistan's wealth declines in Global wealth report 2019

• Pakistan's currency depreciated by 24pc against dollar, with market capitalization drop compounding the impact of exchange rate losses.
• Nearly 1pc of adults are millionaires who collectively own 44pc of global wealth.

Pakistan emerged as one of the biggest losers in the Credit Suisse's latest Global wealth report 2019, as the country’s wealth declined by $141 billion in 2018-19.

“Comparing total wealth gains and losses across the most important countries, the United States (USD 3.8 trillion) again leads the way by a considerable margin…. China (USD 1.9 trillion) is in second place again, followed by Japan (USD 930 billion), India (USD 625 billion), and Brazil (USD 312 billion). The main losses occurred in Australia (down USD 443 billion), Turkey (down USD 257 billion) and Pakistan (down USD 141 billion),” read the report.

As per the report, the much of the year-on-year variation in wealth levels is due to changes in asset prices and exchange rates, with exchange-rate fluctuations frequently the source of the biggest gains and losses.

Pakistan too fell to some of the biggest currency depreciation against dollar. “Currency falls were modest elsewhere in the world, except for Turkey (–21%), Pakistan (–24%) and Argentina (–32%),” stated the report.

The market capitalization in Pakistan dropped by 42pc, compounding the impact of exchange rate losses.

Meanwhile, global wealth grew during the past year, but at a very modest pace. Although wealth per adult reached a new record high of USD 70,850, this is only 1.2pc above the level of mid-2018, before allowing for inflation.

While more than half of all adults worldwide have a net worth below USD 10,000, nearly 1pc of adults are millionaires who collectively own 44pc of global wealth. However, the trend toward increasing inequality has eased, and the share of the top 1pc of wealth holders is below the recent peak in 2016.

The United States leads the list with 40pc of dollar millionaires worldwide and for 40pc of those in the top 1pc of global wealth distribution. Meanwhile, China’s progress has enabled it to replace Europe as the principal source of global wealth growth and to replace Japan as the country with the second-largest number of millionaires.