India and China getting richer as virus hits US wealth: Credit Suisse

 

Only China and India saw gains in household wealth in the first half of the year, growing 4.4% and 1.6%, respectively.

The pandemic that killed more than a million people globally has also reduced individual wealth, yet household wealth has remained largely stable and even increased in China and India.

This is one of the key findings in the Credit Suisse Group AG's Global Wealth Report 2020 released on Thursday. 

Thanks to government and central bank measures to mitigate the fallout from Covid-19, global wealth rebounded from the initial recession in the first quarter of the year, adding $ 1 trillion by June after ending 2019 at $ 399.2 trillion.

“Given the damage the Covid-19 virus has wrought on the global economy, it seems remarkable that family wealth has been relatively unscathed,” said economist Anthony Shorrocks, one of the authors of the report, adding that the findings are based on the temporary balance of the family. Second quarter papers issued by a few countries.

Global wealth creation is expected to pick up next year as the economy recovers. 

The report says the "main outside" is North America, where the economy is faltering due to "persistent weakness due to the high prevalence of Covid-19" in the United States, and the region's wealth per adult is expected to decrease by 5% this year, and will remain near this level. In 2021.

Only China and India saw gains in household wealth in the first half of the year, growing 4.4% and 1.6%, respectively. Latin America suffered the most, with a 13% devaluation, as the devaluation exacerbated losses in GDP.

The report found that wealth per adult declined to an average of $ 76,984 from $ 77,309 at the start of the year. Switzerland, the Netherlands, Taipei and Hong Kong recorded the gains, while Norway and the United Kingdom recorded the largest drops.

The number of millionaires remained stable after rising to 51.9 million last year, while the SuperHealth Club with net assets of more than $ 50 million lost just 120 members to 175,570. 

In the United States, which has the largest number of people in the top 1% wealth group and 39% of the world's millionaires, the inequality gap has narrowed, according to the report.

The results come as wealth gains, especially in the tech world in the US, are under increasing scrutiny as millions have lost their jobs due to the Coronavirus.

 Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com Inc - the world's richest person - has raised more than $ 73 billion this year, raising his fortune to $ 188 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. 

Mark Zuckerberg from Facebook earned $ 27 billion to more than $ 105 billion, while the rise of Zoom Video Communications Inc. This results in Chairman Eric Yuan's net worth increasing by $ 22 billion.

The Bloomberg Index showed that the world's 500 richest people overall added $ 970 billion to their combined fortunes this year.

The report concluded that the top 1% of the world's population, with more than $ 1 million each, own 43% of the global wealth. Meanwhile, about 2.8 billion adults own less than $ 10,000, and collectively own only 1.4% of the global wealth.

Women workers, millennials, and minorities have been hardest hit by the epidemic, mainly due to their high representation in businesses such as restaurants, hotels and retail stores that have been hit hardest. 

Credit Suisse said millennials, who have also suffered from the fallout from the financial crisis, and the next generation after Covid will have to deal with declining economic activity and globalization, as well as discouraging travel.