124,000 fewer Australian millionaires due to property dip and the lower $AUD
Despite global wealth growth of 2.6% during the past year, Australia's wealth per adult fell $USD 28,670, largely due to exchange rate effects and the falling Australian dollar, according to the latest Global Wealth Report from Credit Suisse.
They found that the composition of household wealth in Australia is skewed toward non-financial assets, which average $USD 275,420 and form 58% of gross assets. The high level of real assets reflects a large endowment of land and natural resources relative to the population, but also high property prices in the largest cities.
Therefore due to the recent fall in property values, that has in turn caused a decline in the per capita wealth of Australians, when factoring in exchange rates it is close to its 2011 level of $USD 384,640.
Despite the exchange rate effects, Australia’s wealth per adult is fourth highest in the world in US dollars. In terms of median wealth, it ranks second after Switzerland.
However the decline in average wealth in Australia still resulted in 124,000 fewer millionaires.
Credit Suisse said, "the proportion of those with wealth above USD 100,000, at 66%, is one of the highest in any country and about six times the world average. With 1,307,000 people in the top 1% of global wealth holders, Australia accounts for 2.6% of this top slice, although it is home to just 0.4% of the world’s adult population."
"Household wealth in Australia grew quickly between 2000 and 2012 in USD terms, except during 2008. The average annual growth rate of wealth per adult was 12%, with about half due to exchange-rate appreciation against the US dollar. The exchange-rate effect went into reverse after 2012, with the Australian dollar declining 33% relative to the US dollar."
"Notably only 7% of Australians have net worth below USD 10,000. The latter figure compares with 17% in the United Kingdom and 27% in the United States," they concluded.
