Household Wealth In India, China Rose Amid COVID; The US Sees Decline

After the outbreak of COVID-19, that killed over 1 million people worldwide, there was a decline in individual wealth globally, but only momentarily.

The 2020 Global Wealth Report report released by Credit Suisse Group AG on Thursday, shows that global wealth, which slumped in the first quarter of the year, rebounded after actions taken by governments and central banks to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, thus adding $1 trillion by June after ending 2019 at $399.2 trillion.

The findings based on provisional household balance sheets for the second quarter issued by a few countries showed that only China and India saw gains in household wealth in the first half of 2020, growing by 4.4% and 1.6%, respectively.

On the other hand, Latin America suffered the most, with a 13% plunge, as currency devaluations aggravated losses in the gross domestic product (GDP).

Wealth per adult slipped to an average of $76,984 from $77,309 at the beginning of the year, the report said citing its findings. Switzerland, the Netherlands, Taipei and Hong Kong saw gains, while Norway and the UK posted the biggest declines.

Global wealth creation is expected to rebound the next year as the economy is expected to recover.

However, the "main outlier" of wealth creation amid the pandemic is North America, the report says, where the economy is hobbled by the "continued weakness due to the high prevalence of COVID-19" in the US. The region's wealth per adult is projected to drop 5 percent this year, and remain near that level in 2021.

Notably, while millions in the US lost jobs due to coronavirus, the richest person in the world, who also hails from the US, amassed more than $73 billion in 2020.

"There is the promise of many more surprises to come," said Nannette Hechler-Fayd'herbe, Credit Suisse's chief investment officer for international wealth management and global head of the economics and research unit, and added that "Among the major economies, China is likely to be the clear winner."