Who Owns the Money

I am about to finish another turkey sandwich while reading a report by Visual Capitalist, a firm out of Vancouver. It deals with the distribution of wealth around the world. Some results are surprising and others, not so much. The report states the global wealth, at the end of 2020, is 418 trillion dollars, a number I cannot fathom.

So, let us break it down, and remember, this is globally, not Canada only, and only adults, not children. Adults who have less than $10,000 to their name, make up 1 percent of the entire global wealth, however, it amounts to 54 percent of the world’s population. In other words, more than half the world’s population has less than $10,000 to their name.

Moving up the ladder to the next category, individuals with up to $100,000 in net worth, make up 13 percent of all global wealth, however they are 34 percent of the world’s population. Therefore, 88 percent of all the adults in the world are worth less than $100,000. Remember, this is net worth, not income.

Now, the next group is individuals with a net asset base of $100,000 to a million dollars. This group makes up 39 percent of the 418 trillion dollars (global wealth of the planet), but it is only 11 percent of the entire population. This leaves 1 percent of the world’s population (84 million people) who are worth more than one million dollars. They make up 47 percent of the total wealth of the world (nearly 192 trillion dollars).

Next, the report breaks it down by average assets, by continents. In North America, the average adult is worth just under $487,000. In Europe, that number drops down to an average of $175,000. There are many countries in Europe who are less fortunate, and they are struggling. In Asia, the average net worth of adults is $61,000 (in China it is about $7,000 higher).

If we continue around the world, India is about $14,000 per person and Latin America is at $24,000 of net worth, per adult. At the end of the list is Africa, with an average net worth of $7,000 per person.

Bear in mind these figures are averages, and many people have to get by with very little. They should be our focus this Thanksgiving, and throughout the year. Please consider donations from time to time to the Scugog Food Bank, or your favourite charity.

Jonathan van Bilsen is a television host, award winning photographer, published author, columnist and keynote speaker. Watch his show, ‘Jonathan van Bilsen’s photosNtravel’, on Rogers TV, the Standard Website or YouTube.