If the growth outlook for this year holds, Austria will return to GDP in 2022 as before the corona crisis of 2019. According to the Global Wealth Report published Tuesday by the major Swiss bank Credit Suisse. In Switzerland, 2019 GDP will be exceeded by three to four percent this year, despite the war in Ukraine. Global prosperity rose sharply last year, but this year it is likely to turn around again. There was also an increase in Austria.
According to Credit Suisse, global wealth rose to $463.6 trillion in 2021 (currently EUR 464 trillion). That was an increase of 9.8 percent. Net worth per adult increased by an average of 8.4 percent to $87,489 (now about the same amount in euros). Excluding currency movements, total global wealth grew by 12.7 percent in 2021. This was the fastest annual percentage ever recorded. A weakening economy, rising interest rates and further uncertainties are likely to reverse the trend this year.
Germans are richer than us
In an international comparison, people in Austria are on average wealthy, but not as much as those in Germany and certainly not as much as those in Switzerland. At the end of 2021, the net worth per adult was $250,125 in Austria and $256,985 in Germany. In Switzerland, it was almost three times as much at $696,604.
Wealth in Austria fell 4.2 percent in constant currency in 2020, while in Switzerland and Germany it rose 3.1 percent, according to Credit Suisse. However, the increase in 2021 was even lower in Austria at 8.7 percent than in Germany at 9.1 or Switzerland at 10.3 percent.
Wealth building much slower
The Austrians not only have the lowest average wealth in the German-speaking area. Wealth accumulation in Austria was also slower. Measured at the current dollar rate, the wealth of Austrians grew by 3.8 percent between 2000 and 2021, that of Germans by 4.8 percent and that of Swiss by 5.4 percent.
In Austria and Germany, financial assets accounted for an average of 39.7 percent of gross assets in 2000. The value rose to 42 percent in 2010 and further to 43.9 percent the year before. In Switzerland, this value fell from 62.4 percent in 2000 to 56 percent last year.
271 millionaires in Austria
The study shows $271 millionaires in Austria. For Germany this is 2683 and for Switzerland 1152. In Austria there are significantly fewer super-rich than in Switzerland, but the wealth inequality is relatively lowest if you look at all three countries. According to Credit Suisse, the inequality (Gini coefficient) has also been declining in Switzerland since 2000, but has increased again in Germany after a temporary decline.
The share of total assets held by the richest one percent has fallen in Austria since 2000 from 27 to 25.8 percent. In Switzerland there was a decrease from 32.2 to 26.5 percent. In Germany, the value fell temporarily from 29.1 percent to 27.2 in 2008, but rose again the year before to 31.7 percent. According to Credit Suisse, however, the share of the lowest income groups also increased there.
People saved during the crisis
For the German-speaking area, the evaluation also shows that private consumption in Germany, Switzerland and Austria fell by an average of 6.1 percent in 2020, which was mainly driven by Corona. As reported over the course of the pandemic, the savings rate has increased significantly – from 16.2 percent in 2019 to 21.5 percent in 2020.
Share prices rose in all three countries in both 2020 and 2021. The plus was most noticeable in Austria with 31.9 percent (Germany: +20.5 percent; Switzerland +14.6 percent). But already in the first half of this year it went downhill again. This was again most clearly the case in Austria with a minus of 25.4 percent (Germany: -18.1 percent; Switzerland: -15.8 percent).
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
