Wealthy people around the globe benefited last year from higher share prices and the economic recovery following the crisis in 2020 caused by the coronavirus pandemic. According to calculations by consulting firm Capgemini, their assets rose by 8 percent year-on-year to a record total of 86 trillion US dollars (around 82 trillion euros). At the same time, the club of dollar millionaires grew, including in Germany, which is one of the three countries in the world with the most wealth. "However, our forecast for 2022 is much more cautious," said Capgemini expert Klaus-Georg Meyer, referring to the overall development.
Interest rate hikes by central banks in the fight against high inflation are weighing on stock market sentiment and putting pressure on share prices. According to estimates by Capgemini, the wealth of people with investable assets of at least one million dollars has shrunk worldwide by about 4 percent since the end of last year up until the end of April 2022.
Last year, the global club of dollar millionaires grew by another strong 7.8 percent to 22.5 million members, according to the calculations. In Germany, almost 100,000 people were added, an increase of 6.4 percent. Accordingly, a total of 1.63 million dollar millionaires were counted in Germany. "When we review the last few years, we see a steady uphill trend," Meyer said.
According to the calculations, the total assets of dollar millionaires in Germany rose by 7.4 percent to around 6.3 trillion dollars (about 6 trillion euros). In addition to increased share prices, a higher savings rate and the real estate boom also contributed to this.
By way of comparison, according to figures from Germany’s central bank, the Bundesbank, the total financial assets of private households in Germany amounted to around 7.61 trillion euros at the end of last year. This figure includes cash and bank deposits, securities such as shares and funds, and claims against insurance companies, but not real estate.
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