Allianz Global Wealth Report 2016. Brandmeir, K., Grimm, M., Heise, M., & Holzhausen, A. Technical Report Allianz, 2017. ![Allianz Global Wealth Report 2016 [pdf]](https://bibbase.org/img/filetypes/pdf.svg "pdf")
Paper abstract bibtex The “years of plenty” are over After three good years with average growth of 9%, savers had to make do with more moderate asset growth again in 2015: global gross financial assets increased by “only” 4.9% in 2015 to total EUR 155 trillion. Out of the three asset classes – bank deposits, securities, and insurance and pension funds – securities showed the best performance (+6.1%), with bank deposits hot on their heels (+5.5%). Insurance and pension funds, on the other hand, dropped back a notch or two (+3.3%): the scars left by the ongoing low interest rate policy are becoming increasingly visible in this asset class. Growth: Asia alone at the top A comparison of the regions once again paints a familiar picture in 2015, with the Asia region (excl. Japan) topping the table as the unchallenged leader, with growth just shy of 15%. Although Asia also saw a slowdown in the pace of growth last year, the region’s lead over the rest of the world is only getting bigger. This also applies in relation to the world’s other two up-and-coming regions, Latin America and Eastern Europe, where growth was only half as fast as in Asia on average. The days in which these regions were able to keep up with their counterparts in Asia are long gone. Asset growth in the world’s traditional developed countries also came as something of a disappointment, although Western Europe (3.2%) fared slightly better than North America (+2.6%). Catch-up process intact The slow shift in weightings on the world asset map continued in 2015: the three emerging market regions of Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia (excl. Japan) accounted for more than 21% of the world’s gross financial assets, at least three times as much as at the beginning of the millennium. Last year alone, their share of global financial assets rose by 1.7 percentage points, reaching the second-highest growth rate seen over the last decade. If we look at economic output, however, where these regions already account for at least one-third of the global market, it becomes evident that the catch-up process is far from over. Debt growth stable At 4.5%, the liabilities of households grew at the same rate in 2015 as they had in 2014. All in all, household debt came to EUR 38.6 trillion at the end of the year, a good quarter higher than the value prior to the outbreak of the major financial crisis. Developments varied considerably from region to region: in Asia (excl. Japan), debt growth picked up, whereas in Latin America and Eastern Europe – due to the crises facing the major economies in these regions – it has dropped significantly. In North America and Western Europe, hardly any change was detected, with liabilities increasing at only a very moderate rate – lagging behind the rate of growth in economic output for what is now the seventh year running. So all in all, households – especially in the developed countries – were still taking a very cautious approach to borrowing; in many countries in Western Europe, the deleveraging trend continued in 2015. End of global deleveraging At the global level, however, the deleveraging process appears to have come to an end. With global debt growing virtually in tandem with global economic output last year, the global debt ratio, i.e. household liabilities measured as a percentage of nominal economic output, came in at 65.3%, on a par with the year before. This still, however, puts Summary 10 it around eight percentage points down on the all-time high reached in 2009. If we subtract debt from the gross financial assets, we arrive at a figure for global net financial assets, which came in at a new record high of EUR 116 trillion at the close of 2015. This figure is up by 5.1% on a year earlier – below-average development in a long-term comparison (average rate of +6.2% p.a. since 2005). Latin America comes in last Despite the catch-up process, the discrepancies between the assets of households in the richer regions and those in the world’s poorer regions remain huge. The wealth gap is especially pronounced on the American continent: after deductions for liabilities, North America remained the richest region in the world at the end of 2015, with average per capita assets coming to EUR 152,510. By contrast, Latin America was the region with the lowest net financial assets, namely EUR 2,840 per capita. This puts it bottom of the regional ranking list for the very first time, also due to exchange rate effects. The global middle class is growing and getting richer Although the vast majority of the five billion people living in the countries included in our analysis still belong to the low wealth class, the number is down slightly as against 2000 to 3.4 billion, meaning that only 69 percent of the total population (as opposed to 80 percent in 2000) belong to this wealth category today. This is because in recent years, more and more people, almost 600 million in total, have achieved promotion to the middle wealth class. The global middle wealth class has grown considerably as a result: in recent years, the number of people has more than doubled to over one billion people; the share of the overall population has climbed from 10% to around 20%. The proportion of global assets held by this wealth class has also grown significantly, rising to a good 18% at the end of 2015, almost three times the amount seen at the start of the millennium. So the global middle class has not only been getting bigger in terms of the number of people who belong to it; it has also been getting increasingly richer. The global upper class is growing and becoming more heterogeneous Although there are now fewer households who count among the global high wealth class in the traditional developed economies, this wealth class has also been growing in recent years: at the end of 2015, around 540 million people across the globe could count themselves among the high wealth class, a good 100 million or 25% more than in 2000. This also means that the high wealth class is much more heterogeneous than it was in the past, when it was more or less a club open exclusively to western European, American and Japanese households: these countries now account for 66% of the group as a whole, compared with over 90% in the past. The share of global financial assets attributable to this wealth class has also fallen. This development reflects a broader distribution of wealth, at least at global level. Shrinking national middle class in the developed countries In order to analyze national wealth distribution, this year’s Global Wealth Report investigates the share of total assets held by the middle class and, in particular, how this share has developed over time. No uniform pattern can be identified. In around one Allianz Global Wealth Report 2016 11 third of the countries analyzed, the middle class is shrinking, i.e. the story is one of the gradual emaciation of the middle class, which is participating less and less in overall wealth. Significantly, this trend applies mainly to the euro crisis countries (Italy, Ireland, Greece) and the traditional industrialized nations (the US, Japan, the UK) – which have been pursuing an extremely expansive monetary policy since the financial crisis. In around half of the countries in the analysis, on the other hand, the share of wealth attributable to the middle class has increased: the middle class is gaining ground and, at the same time, wealth is becoming less concentrated at the top, i.e. wealth distribution is becoming more equal. Especially in emerging markets like Turkey, Thailand or Brazil, this development is also associated with an increase in the number of people who belong to the middle class – because they have made the leap up from the low wealth class. “Inclusive inequality” There are also, however, developments such as those witnessed in France and Switzerland, where a larger middle class comes hand-in-hand with, or is caused by, greater wealth concentration. The situation is probably best described as a paradox of “inclusive inequality”: more people are participating in average wealth, while at the same time, the tip of the wealth pyramid is moving further and further away from this average (and is simultaneously getting smaller and smaller). Ultimately, this description of “inclusive inequality” also applies to the situation across the globe.
@techreport{brandmeir_allianz_2017,
title = {Allianz {Global} {Wealth} {Report} 2016},
url = {https://www.allianz.com/v_1474281539000/media/economic_research/publications/specials/en/AGWR2016e.pdf},
abstract = {The “years of plenty” are over After three good years with average growth of 9\%, savers had to make do with more moderate asset growth again in 2015: global gross financial assets increased by “only” 4.9\% in 2015 to total EUR 155 trillion. Out of the three asset classes – bank deposits, securities, and insurance and pension funds – securities showed the best performance (+6.1\%), with bank deposits hot on their heels (+5.5\%). Insurance and pension funds, on the other hand, dropped back a notch or two (+3.3\%): the scars left by the ongoing low interest rate policy are becoming increasingly visible in this asset class.
Growth: Asia alone at the top A comparison of the regions once again paints a familiar picture in 2015, with the Asia region (excl. Japan) topping the table as the unchallenged leader, with growth just shy of 15\%. Although Asia also saw a slowdown in the pace of growth last year, the region’s lead over the rest of the world is only getting bigger. This also applies in relation to the world’s other two up-and-coming regions, Latin America and Eastern Europe, where growth was only half as fast as in Asia on average. The days in which these regions were able to keep up with their counterparts in Asia are long gone. Asset growth in the world’s traditional developed countries also came as something of a disappointment, although Western Europe (3.2\%) fared slightly better than North America (+2.6\%).
Catch-up process intact The slow shift in weightings on the world asset map continued in 2015: the three emerging market regions of Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia (excl. Japan) accounted for more than 21\% of the world’s gross financial assets, at least three times as much as at
the beginning of the millennium. Last year alone, their share of global financial assets rose by 1.7 percentage points, reaching the second-highest growth rate seen over the last decade. If we look at economic output, however, where these regions already account for at least one-third of the global market, it becomes evident that the catch-up process is far from over.
Debt growth stable At 4.5\%, the liabilities of households grew at the same rate in 2015 as they had in 2014. All in all, household debt came to EUR 38.6 trillion at the end of the year, a good quarter higher than the value prior to the outbreak of the major financial crisis. Developments varied considerably from region to region: in Asia (excl. Japan), debt growth picked up, whereas in Latin America and Eastern Europe – due to the crises facing the major economies in these regions – it has dropped significantly. In North America and Western Europe, hardly any change was detected, with liabilities increasing at only a very moderate rate – lagging behind the rate of growth in economic output for what is now the seventh year running. So all in all, households – especially in the developed countries – were still taking a very cautious approach to borrowing; in many countries in Western Europe, the deleveraging trend continued in 2015.
End of global deleveraging At the global level, however, the deleveraging process appears to have come to an end. With global debt growing virtually in tandem with global economic output last year, the global debt ratio, i.e. household liabilities measured as a percentage of nominal economic output, came in at 65.3\%, on a par with the year before. This still, however, puts
Summary 10
it around eight percentage points down on the all-time high reached in 2009. If we subtract debt from the gross financial assets, we arrive at a figure for global net financial assets, which came in at a new record high of EUR 116 trillion at the close of 2015. This figure is up by 5.1\% on a year earlier – below-average development in a long-term comparison (average rate of +6.2\% p.a. since 2005).
Latin America comes in last Despite the catch-up process, the discrepancies between the assets of households in the richer regions and those in the world’s poorer regions remain huge. The wealth gap is especially pronounced on the American continent: after deductions for liabilities, North America remained the richest region in the world at the end of 2015, with average per capita assets coming to EUR 152,510. By contrast, Latin America was the region with the lowest net financial assets, namely EUR 2,840 per capita. This puts it bottom of the regional ranking list for the very first time, also due to exchange rate effects.
The global middle class is growing and getting richer Although the vast majority of the five billion people living in the countries included in our analysis still belong to the low wealth class, the number is down slightly as against 2000 to 3.4 billion, meaning that only 69 percent of the total population (as opposed to 80 percent in 2000) belong to this wealth category today. This is because in recent years, more and more people, almost 600 million in total, have achieved promotion to the middle wealth class. The global middle wealth class has grown considerably as a result: in recent years, the number of people has more than doubled
to over one billion people; the share of the overall population has climbed from 10\% to around 20\%. The proportion of global assets held by this wealth class has also grown significantly, rising to a good 18\% at the end of 2015, almost three times the amount seen at the start of the millennium. So the global middle class has not only been getting bigger in terms of the number of people who belong to it; it has also been getting increasingly richer.
The global upper class is growing and becoming more heterogeneous Although there are now fewer households who count among the global high wealth class in the traditional developed economies, this wealth class has also been growing in recent years: at the end of 2015, around 540 million people across the globe could count themselves among the high wealth class, a good 100 million or 25\% more than in 2000. This also means that the high wealth class is much more heterogeneous than it was in the past, when it was more or less a club open exclusively to western European, American and Japanese households: these countries now account for 66\% of the group as a whole, compared with over 90\% in the past. The share of global financial assets attributable to this wealth class has also fallen. This development reflects a broader distribution of wealth, at least at global level.
Shrinking national middle class in the developed countries In order to analyze national wealth distribution, this year’s Global Wealth Report investigates the share of total assets held by the middle class and, in particular, how this share has developed over time. No uniform pattern can be identified. In around one
Allianz Global Wealth Report 2016 11
third of the countries analyzed, the middle class is shrinking, i.e. the story is one of the gradual emaciation of the middle class, which is participating less and less in overall wealth. Significantly, this trend applies mainly to the euro crisis countries (Italy, Ireland, Greece) and the traditional industrialized nations (the US, Japan, the UK) – which have been pursuing an extremely expansive monetary policy since the financial crisis. In around half of the countries in the analysis, on the other hand, the share of wealth attributable to the middle class has increased: the middle class is gaining ground and, at the same time, wealth is becoming less concentrated at the top, i.e. wealth distribution is becoming more equal. Especially in emerging markets like Turkey, Thailand or Brazil, this development is also associated with an increase in the number of people who belong to the middle class – because they have made the leap up from the low wealth class.
“Inclusive inequality” There are also, however, developments such as those witnessed in France and Switzerland, where a larger middle class comes hand-in-hand with, or is caused by, greater wealth concentration. The situation is probably best described as a paradox of “inclusive inequality”: more people are participating in average wealth, while at the same time, the tip of the wealth pyramid is moving further and further away from this average (and is simultaneously getting smaller and smaller). Ultimately, this description of “inclusive inequality” also applies to the situation across the globe.},
urldate = {2017-11-16},
institution = {Allianz},
author = {Brandmeir, Kathrin and Grimm, Michaela and Heise, Michael and Holzhausen, Arne},
year = {2017},
keywords = {inequality, collapse},
pages = {126},
file = {Brandmeir et al. - 2017 - Allianz Global Wealth Report 2016.pdf:C\:\\Users\\rsrs\\Documents\\Zotero Database\\storage\\CMU6E6VL\\Brandmeir et al. - 2017 - Allianz Global Wealth Report 2016.pdf:application/pdf}
}
Downloads: 0
{"_id":"hdQaiSiRrgLiCkxhx","bibbaseid":"brandmeir-grimm-heise-holzhausen-allianzglobalwealthreport2016-2017","authorIDs":[],"author_short":["Brandmeir, K.","Grimm, M.","Heise, M.","Holzhausen, A."],"bibdata":{"bibtype":"techreport","type":"techreport","title":"Allianz Global Wealth Report 2016","url":"https://www.allianz.com/v_1474281539000/media/economic_research/publications/specials/en/AGWR2016e.pdf","abstract":"The “years of plenty” are over After three good years with average growth of 9%, savers had to make do with more moderate asset growth again in 2015: global gross financial assets increased by “only” 4.9% in 2015 to total EUR 155 trillion. Out of the three asset classes – bank deposits, securities, and insurance and pension funds – securities showed the best performance (+6.1%), with bank deposits hot on their heels (+5.5%). Insurance and pension funds, on the other hand, dropped back a notch or two (+3.3%): the scars left by the ongoing low interest rate policy are becoming increasingly visible in this asset class. Growth: Asia alone at the top A comparison of the regions once again paints a familiar picture in 2015, with the Asia region (excl. Japan) topping the table as the unchallenged leader, with growth just shy of 15%. Although Asia also saw a slowdown in the pace of growth last year, the region’s lead over the rest of the world is only getting bigger. This also applies in relation to the world’s other two up-and-coming regions, Latin America and Eastern Europe, where growth was only half as fast as in Asia on average. The days in which these regions were able to keep up with their counterparts in Asia are long gone. Asset growth in the world’s traditional developed countries also came as something of a disappointment, although Western Europe (3.2%) fared slightly better than North America (+2.6%). Catch-up process intact The slow shift in weightings on the world asset map continued in 2015: the three emerging market regions of Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia (excl. Japan) accounted for more than 21% of the world’s gross financial assets, at least three times as much as at the beginning of the millennium. Last year alone, their share of global financial assets rose by 1.7 percentage points, reaching the second-highest growth rate seen over the last decade. If we look at economic output, however, where these regions already account for at least one-third of the global market, it becomes evident that the catch-up process is far from over. Debt growth stable At 4.5%, the liabilities of households grew at the same rate in 2015 as they had in 2014. All in all, household debt came to EUR 38.6 trillion at the end of the year, a good quarter higher than the value prior to the outbreak of the major financial crisis. Developments varied considerably from region to region: in Asia (excl. Japan), debt growth picked up, whereas in Latin America and Eastern Europe – due to the crises facing the major economies in these regions – it has dropped significantly. In North America and Western Europe, hardly any change was detected, with liabilities increasing at only a very moderate rate – lagging behind the rate of growth in economic output for what is now the seventh year running. So all in all, households – especially in the developed countries – were still taking a very cautious approach to borrowing; in many countries in Western Europe, the deleveraging trend continued in 2015. End of global deleveraging At the global level, however, the deleveraging process appears to have come to an end. With global debt growing virtually in tandem with global economic output last year, the global debt ratio, i.e. household liabilities measured as a percentage of nominal economic output, came in at 65.3%, on a par with the year before. This still, however, puts Summary 10 it around eight percentage points down on the all-time high reached in 2009. If we subtract debt from the gross financial assets, we arrive at a figure for global net financial assets, which came in at a new record high of EUR 116 trillion at the close of 2015. This figure is up by 5.1% on a year earlier – below-average development in a long-term comparison (average rate of +6.2% p.a. since 2005). Latin America comes in last Despite the catch-up process, the discrepancies between the assets of households in the richer regions and those in the world’s poorer regions remain huge. The wealth gap is especially pronounced on the American continent: after deductions for liabilities, North America remained the richest region in the world at the end of 2015, with average per capita assets coming to EUR 152,510. By contrast, Latin America was the region with the lowest net financial assets, namely EUR 2,840 per capita. This puts it bottom of the regional ranking list for the very first time, also due to exchange rate effects. The global middle class is growing and getting richer Although the vast majority of the five billion people living in the countries included in our analysis still belong to the low wealth class, the number is down slightly as against 2000 to 3.4 billion, meaning that only 69 percent of the total population (as opposed to 80 percent in 2000) belong to this wealth category today. This is because in recent years, more and more people, almost 600 million in total, have achieved promotion to the middle wealth class. The global middle wealth class has grown considerably as a result: in recent years, the number of people has more than doubled to over one billion people; the share of the overall population has climbed from 10% to around 20%. The proportion of global assets held by this wealth class has also grown significantly, rising to a good 18% at the end of 2015, almost three times the amount seen at the start of the millennium. So the global middle class has not only been getting bigger in terms of the number of people who belong to it; it has also been getting increasingly richer. The global upper class is growing and becoming more heterogeneous Although there are now fewer households who count among the global high wealth class in the traditional developed economies, this wealth class has also been growing in recent years: at the end of 2015, around 540 million people across the globe could count themselves among the high wealth class, a good 100 million or 25% more than in 2000. This also means that the high wealth class is much more heterogeneous than it was in the past, when it was more or less a club open exclusively to western European, American and Japanese households: these countries now account for 66% of the group as a whole, compared with over 90% in the past. The share of global financial assets attributable to this wealth class has also fallen. This development reflects a broader distribution of wealth, at least at global level. Shrinking national middle class in the developed countries In order to analyze national wealth distribution, this year’s Global Wealth Report investigates the share of total assets held by the middle class and, in particular, how this share has developed over time. No uniform pattern can be identified. In around one Allianz Global Wealth Report 2016 11 third of the countries analyzed, the middle class is shrinking, i.e. the story is one of the gradual emaciation of the middle class, which is participating less and less in overall wealth. Significantly, this trend applies mainly to the euro crisis countries (Italy, Ireland, Greece) and the traditional industrialized nations (the US, Japan, the UK) – which have been pursuing an extremely expansive monetary policy since the financial crisis. In around half of the countries in the analysis, on the other hand, the share of wealth attributable to the middle class has increased: the middle class is gaining ground and, at the same time, wealth is becoming less concentrated at the top, i.e. wealth distribution is becoming more equal. Especially in emerging markets like Turkey, Thailand or Brazil, this development is also associated with an increase in the number of people who belong to the middle class – because they have made the leap up from the low wealth class. “Inclusive inequality” There are also, however, developments such as those witnessed in France and Switzerland, where a larger middle class comes hand-in-hand with, or is caused by, greater wealth concentration. The situation is probably best described as a paradox of “inclusive inequality”: more people are participating in average wealth, while at the same time, the tip of the wealth pyramid is moving further and further away from this average (and is simultaneously getting smaller and smaller). Ultimately, this description of “inclusive inequality” also applies to the situation across the globe.","urldate":"2017-11-16","institution":"Allianz","author":[{"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Brandmeir"],"firstnames":["Kathrin"],"suffixes":[]},{"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Grimm"],"firstnames":["Michaela"],"suffixes":[]},{"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Heise"],"firstnames":["Michael"],"suffixes":[]},{"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Holzhausen"],"firstnames":["Arne"],"suffixes":[]}],"year":"2017","keywords":"inequality, collapse","pages":"126","file":"Brandmeir et al. - 2017 - Allianz Global Wealth Report 2016.pdf:C\\:\\\\Users\\s̊rs\\\\Documents\\\\Zotero Database\\\\storage\\\\CMU6E6VL\\\\Brandmeir et al. - 2017 - Allianz Global Wealth Report 2016.pdf:application/pdf","bibtex":"@techreport{brandmeir_allianz_2017,\n\ttitle = {Allianz {Global} {Wealth} {Report} 2016},\n\turl = {https://www.allianz.com/v_1474281539000/media/economic_research/publications/specials/en/AGWR2016e.pdf},\n\tabstract = {The “years of plenty” are over After three good years with average growth of 9\\%, savers had to make do with more moderate asset growth again in 2015: global gross financial assets increased by “only” 4.9\\% in 2015 to total EUR 155 trillion. Out of the three asset classes – bank deposits, securities, and insurance and pension funds – securities showed the best performance (+6.1\\%), with bank deposits hot on their heels (+5.5\\%). Insurance and pension funds, on the other hand, dropped back a notch or two (+3.3\\%): the scars left by the ongoing low interest rate policy are becoming increasingly visible in this asset class.\nGrowth: Asia alone at the top A comparison of the regions once again paints a familiar picture in 2015, with the Asia region (excl. Japan) topping the table as the unchallenged leader, with growth just shy of 15\\%. Although Asia also saw a slowdown in the pace of growth last year, the region’s lead over the rest of the world is only getting bigger. This also applies in relation to the world’s other two up-and-coming regions, Latin America and Eastern Europe, where growth was only half as fast as in Asia on average. The days in which these regions were able to keep up with their counterparts in Asia are long gone. Asset growth in the world’s traditional developed countries also came as something of a disappointment, although Western Europe (3.2\\%) fared slightly better than North America (+2.6\\%). \nCatch-up process intact The slow shift in weightings on the world asset map continued in 2015: the three emerging market regions of Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia (excl. Japan) accounted for more than 21\\% of the world’s gross financial assets, at least three times as much as at \nthe beginning of the millennium. Last year alone, their share of global financial assets rose by 1.7 percentage points, reaching the second-highest growth rate seen over the last decade. If we look at economic output, however, where these regions already account for at least one-third of the global market, it becomes evident that the catch-up process is far from over.\nDebt growth stable At 4.5\\%, the liabilities of households grew at the same rate in 2015 as they had in 2014. All in all, household debt came to EUR 38.6 trillion at the end of the year, a good quarter higher than the value prior to the outbreak of the major financial crisis. Developments varied considerably from region to region: in Asia (excl. Japan), debt growth picked up, whereas in Latin America and Eastern Europe – due to the crises facing the major economies in these regions – it has dropped significantly. In North America and Western Europe, hardly any change was detected, with liabilities increasing at only a very moderate rate – lagging behind the rate of growth in economic output for what is now the seventh year running. So all in all, households – especially in the developed countries – were still taking a very cautious approach to borrowing; in many countries in Western Europe, the deleveraging trend continued in 2015.\nEnd of global deleveraging At the global level, however, the deleveraging process appears to have come to an end. With global debt growing virtually in tandem with global economic output last year, the global debt ratio, i.e. household liabilities measured as a percentage of nominal economic output, came in at 65.3\\%, on a par with the year before. This still, however, puts \nSummary 10\nit around eight percentage points down on the all-time high reached in 2009. If we subtract debt from the gross financial assets, we arrive at a figure for global net financial assets, which came in at a new record high of EUR 116 trillion at the close of 2015. This figure is up by 5.1\\% on a year earlier – below-average development in a long-term comparison (average rate of +6.2\\% p.a. since 2005). \nLatin America comes in last Despite the catch-up process, the discrepancies between the assets of households in the richer regions and those in the world’s poorer regions remain huge. The wealth gap is especially pronounced on the American continent: after deductions for liabilities, North America remained the richest region in the world at the end of 2015, with average per capita assets coming to EUR 152,510. By contrast, Latin America was the region with the lowest net financial assets, namely EUR 2,840 per capita. This puts it bottom of the regional ranking list for the very first time, also due to exchange rate effects.\nThe global middle class is growing and getting richer Although the vast majority of the five billion people living in the countries included in our analysis still belong to the low wealth class, the number is down slightly as against 2000 to 3.4 billion, meaning that only 69 percent of the total population (as opposed to 80 percent in 2000) belong to this wealth category today. This is because in recent years, more and more people, almost 600 million in total, have achieved promotion to the middle wealth class. The global middle wealth class has grown considerably as a result: in recent years, the number of people has more than doubled \nto over one billion people; the share of the overall population has climbed from 10\\% to around 20\\%. The proportion of global assets held by this wealth class has also grown significantly, rising to a good 18\\% at the end of 2015, almost three times the amount seen at the start of the millennium. So the global middle class has not only been getting bigger in terms of the number of people who belong to it; it has also been getting increasingly richer.\nThe global upper class is growing and becoming more heterogeneous Although there are now fewer households who count among the global high wealth class in the traditional developed economies, this wealth class has also been growing in recent years: at the end of 2015, around 540 million people across the globe could count themselves among the high wealth class, a good 100 million or 25\\% more than in 2000. This also means that the high wealth class is much more heterogeneous than it was in the past, when it was more or less a club open exclusively to western European, American and Japanese households: these countries now account for 66\\% of the group as a whole, compared with over 90\\% in the past. The share of global financial assets attributable to this wealth class has also fallen. This development reflects a broader distribution of wealth, at least at global level.\nShrinking national middle class in the developed countries In order to analyze national wealth distribution, this year’s Global Wealth Report investigates the share of total assets held by the middle class and, in particular, how this share has developed over time. No uniform pattern can be identified. In around one \nAllianz Global Wealth Report 2016 11\nthird of the countries analyzed, the middle class is shrinking, i.e. the story is one of the gradual emaciation of the middle class, which is participating less and less in overall wealth. Significantly, this trend applies mainly to the euro crisis countries (Italy, Ireland, Greece) and the traditional industrialized nations (the US, Japan, the UK) – which have been pursuing an extremely expansive monetary policy since the financial crisis. In around half of the countries in the analysis, on the other hand, the share of wealth attributable to the middle class has increased: the middle class is gaining ground and, at the same time, wealth is becoming less concentrated at the top, i.e. wealth distribution is becoming more equal. Especially in emerging markets like Turkey, Thailand or Brazil, this development is also associated with an increase in the number of people who belong to the middle class – because they have made the leap up from the low wealth class.\n“Inclusive inequality” There are also, however, developments such as those witnessed in France and Switzerland, where a larger middle class comes hand-in-hand with, or is caused by, greater wealth concentration. The situation is probably best described as a paradox of “inclusive inequality”: more people are participating in average wealth, while at the same time, the tip of the wealth pyramid is moving further and further away from this average (and is simultaneously getting smaller and smaller). Ultimately, this description of “inclusive inequality” also applies to the situation across the globe.},\n\turldate = {2017-11-16},\n\tinstitution = {Allianz},\n\tauthor = {Brandmeir, Kathrin and Grimm, Michaela and Heise, Michael and Holzhausen, Arne},\n\tyear = {2017},\n\tkeywords = {inequality, collapse},\n\tpages = {126},\n\tfile = {Brandmeir et al. - 2017 - Allianz Global Wealth Report 2016.pdf:C\\:\\\\Users\\\\rsrs\\\\Documents\\\\Zotero Database\\\\storage\\\\CMU6E6VL\\\\Brandmeir et al. - 2017 - Allianz Global Wealth Report 2016.pdf:application/pdf}\n}\n\n","author_short":["Brandmeir, K.","Grimm, M.","Heise, M.","Holzhausen, A."],"key":"brandmeir_allianz_2017","id":"brandmeir_allianz_2017","bibbaseid":"brandmeir-grimm-heise-holzhausen-allianzglobalwealthreport2016-2017","role":"author","urls":{"Paper":"https://www.allianz.com/v_1474281539000/media/economic_research/publications/specials/en/AGWR2016e.pdf"},"keyword":["inequality","collapse"],"downloads":0,"html":""},"bibtype":"techreport","biburl":"http://www.collapsologie.fr/bib.bib","creationDate":"2019-06-13T15:56:08.823Z","downloads":0,"keywords":["inequality","collapse"],"search_terms":["allianz","global","wealth","report","2016","brandmeir","grimm","heise","holzhausen"],"title":"Allianz Global Wealth Report 2016","year":2017,"dataSources":["97shAbFSxL7A7SHoh"]}