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Countries by Wealth per Capita

They're not better, they just have more money. Name the countries that have the highest mean household wealth per adult.
In the year 2021, according to Credit Suisse
Includes cash, real estate, investments, etc... Having a massive housing bubble might help
No data for the Vatican, Andorra, Monaco, Liechtenstein, or San Marino
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: October 28, 2022
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First submittedJanuary 3, 2017
Times taken52,410
Average score80.0%
Rating4.53
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$ / Adult
Country
696,604
Switzerland
657,564
Luxembourg
579,051
United States
550,110
Australia
472,153
New Zealand
457,795
Iceland
426,494
Denmark
$ / Adult
Country
409,297
Canada
400,828
Netherlands
381,968
Sweden
381,114
Belgium
358,204
Singapore
334,432
Norway
322,074
France
$ / Adult
Country
309,375
United Kingdom
297,864
Taiwan
273,417
Israel
256,985
Germany
251,337
Ireland
250,125
Austria
+21
Level ∞
Jan 3, 2017
Among these countries, Australia and New Zealand have increased the most since 2000. Gotta love that housing boom.
+26
Level 35
May 8, 2017
Yeah, Gotta 'Love' the Housing Boom... Ugh...
+7
Level ∞
Oct 25, 2022
Yes, it was sarcastic. The housing bubble has hurt a lot of people. The unwind (if it happens) will be just as painful. Low central bank interest rates have benefited speculators at the expense of regular people. Even people who own homes don't benefit as they pay more taxes, and can't realize their "gains" unless they sell and move to a cheaper area or country. I suppose their heirs will come out ahead.
+3
Level 74
May 9, 2017
Depends when you bought in; although people in Perth may not agree now
+2
Level 77
Nov 5, 2019
Indeed it is mostly housing values. My house has doubled in value since I bought it.
+1
Level 68
Jan 30, 2020
Same. Lucky me.
+2
Level 77
Jan 3, 2017
Had them all but the top two...then I looked at the name of the source material. Still missed Iceland though.
+1
Level 77
Jan 8, 2017
Iceland was a surprise considering the massive drop of the ISK with the bank crisis in 2008. They value of the currency is still down from what it was, against the USD the value is about half of what it was. So either they were really rich or wtf? Also.. if I read that source material right (skimmed) the data for Switzerland is from 1997? Maybe I mistook that. That's a while ago too.
+4
Level 71
Jan 9, 2017
What about the Vatican, awful lot of money gets siphoned to that area.
+19
Level 65
Jan 15, 2017
please read the quiz notes
+2
Level 70
Apr 24, 2021
No wonder why there was no Monaco then
+2
Level 44
Oct 31, 2022
not to individuals ; during European Middle age abbeys were fairly rich, monks not.

And even when we consider the institution only, Vatican is considerably rich of masterpieces of art in its museum but its financial wealth per se is also a myth.

+4
Level 70
Apr 25, 2017
I'm sure the only reason Canada is so high on the list is from housing expenses. A small house in Vancouver will go for CAD $1,000,000.
+4
Level 58
Apr 25, 2017
I wouldn't be surprised, honestly. I live just outside of Vancouver and I feel like I'm going to live with my parents forever :/ Either that or I'll live in an apartment with like 2-3 other people.
+2
Level 61
Apr 25, 2017
Several other cities have comparable (maybe worse) problems, for instance London or Barcelona.
+3
Level 70
Nov 5, 2019
I live in a smaller Canadian city and house prices are still ridiculous. I think I'll buy a tent instead!
+5
Level 74
Nov 6, 2019
There's a difference between expensive and unaffordable. In London and Barcelona wages are more commensurate with costs of living. Not so in a city like Vancouver, where some employers have difficulty finding and retaining staff since many workers can no longer afford to live there.
+2
Level 78
Jan 30, 2020
@redsplat: the facts do not support your thesis. The average wages in Canada are higher than in London or Barcelona (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_average_wage)
+1
Level 49
Feb 2, 2020
Now try a 3rd world country, where houses cost three times less... and people earn seven times less.
+1
Level 64
Nov 1, 2022
most people sadly have to build their own houses there. ive seen it, and it is really depressing. this does not mean that not being able to own a house in a 1st world country is not a problem though.
+1
Level 62
Apr 16, 2020
same with the entirety of ontario tbh.
+1
Level 48
Oct 31, 2022
1,000,000, where you living at in BC?
+2
Level 29
Apr 25, 2017
Go Italy!
+9
Level 82
Apr 26, 2017
Also, Switzerland... and this goes for many other countries on the list... I don't think a country really gets to claim it is "wealthy" so long as they're going to charge for ketchup at McDonald's. I would say that that is some ghetto-ass 3rd world bullcrap... but... they don't even try to pull that sh*t in the Philippines or Thailand or India or Ethiopia (and in Ethiopia it's not even a true McDonald's just a cheap knock-off)... so... I don't actually know what that is. But it's stingy and low.
+53
Level ∞
Nov 4, 2019
You don't get rich by handing out free ketchup.
+7
Level 82
Nov 4, 2019
I have a similar complaint about hiding taxes you have to pay when advertising stuff in the USA. As if they're optional ...
+2
Level 89
Nov 5, 2019
This is the most ghetto complaint I've seen in a while. Well played.
+11
Level 82
Mar 16, 2020
come between me and my chicken nuggets dipping sauces and I'll go super saiyan on you
+1
Level 72
Oct 31, 2022
If you order Chicken Nuggets in Switzerland, the ketchup is free :)
+1
Level 45
Apr 27, 2017
very interesting, 1:38 on the clock
+3
Level 60
Nov 27, 2017
Something is totally off with this quizz. Or with its source. Otherwise I am one of the dirt poor americans...
+12
Level ∞
Nov 4, 2019
Mean != median. For example, let's say Bill Gates visits a homeless shelter. The mean wealth in that homeless shelter could be over $1 billion even though everyone but Bill Gates is poor.
+12
Level 70
Jan 30, 2020
Yes, while the mean for the US is $432K, the median is only $66K. Switzerland, on the other hand, has a much more even distribution of wealth, with a mean of $565K and a median of $228K.
+8
Level 66
Jan 30, 2020
Is there a similar quiz that uses median wealth?
+3
Level ∞
Nov 4, 2019
Also consider that someone who bought a house in California in 1990 would probably have over 500k in home equity by now.
+7
Level 58
Nov 6, 2019
Unless it burnt down of course.
+1
Level 66
Oct 27, 2022
Or was demolished
+3
Level 50
Jan 30, 2020
The quiz is made up of either countries where everyone has a relatively large amount of money, or countries where there are quite a few (or very few sometimes) extremely wealthy people that skew the figures. Unfortunately, most of these fall into the latter category.
+4
Level 87
Nov 4, 2019
So, San Marino is poorer than Italy overall? Seems not likely.
+8
Level 70
Nov 5, 2019
Microstates are almost never present in these kinds of quizzes, because the data isn't avaliable.
+2
Level 86
Nov 5, 2019
According to the source, yes. San Marino clocks in at $218,321, just barely missing the cutoff for the quiz.
+4
Level 86
Nov 5, 2019
Actually, scratch that. It looks like $218,321 is just a dummy value they're using when they don't have good data. The exact same figure is given for Andorra, Liechtenstein, etc.
+3
Level 66
Jan 30, 2020
Someone didnt read the instructions?! ... Seems very likely.. ;)
+1
Level 72
Oct 28, 2022
That case was added to the instructions AFTER the comment.
+6
Level 74
Nov 4, 2019
Nearly all of western Europe, minus Spain and Portugal. That does not surprise me; but no Germany, that surprises me.
+8
Level 71
Nov 5, 2019
Compared to the rest of Europe, very few people in Germany own real estate. It's very common to just rent an apartment.
+6
Level 70
Nov 5, 2019
From the source: "Germany and Sweden remain below this level, probably reflecting generous state provision of

pensions and healthcare, which reduces the

incentive for individuals to save for their retirement

needs."

It should be added that employees have to directly transfer a significant part of their income to finance these security systems, instead of "sav[ing a significant part of their income] for their retirement needs". It is actually strange that these "state fonds" are not considered for the wealth calculation.

+4
Level ∞
Nov 7, 2019
Neither Germany nor Sweden has a sovereign wealth fund with substantial assets. Why would we consider future government spending an asset? If anything we should subtract the value of the government debt.
+1
Level 72
Sep 28, 2023
However, if I buy a government bond (gilt), then that is a financial asset that I can sell, but similarly to pension rights it is a promise that the government will pay something in the future; presumably it will have to borrow the money to do so.

It wasn't clear to me from the source how it was treating pension assets in general. I couldn't agree more with QM that there is a world of difference between pensions that are investments in real assets and those that are promises to pay out of future taxation, or employee contributions.

+3
Level 82
Oct 25, 2022
It's usually not a state retirement fund. Your retirement tax finances the current pensioners, it doesn't wait for you.
+2
Level 78
Nov 4, 2019
Surprised not to see Qatar or Kuwait
+8
Level 72
Jan 30, 2020
They'd probably be there if this were limited to citizens instead of households.
+1
Level 82
Oct 25, 2022
Yeah, Gulf States often get dragged down in many metrics due to the large populations of immigrant labourers.
+1
Level 78
Nov 7, 2019
Andorra should be included in the caveat at the beginning. There's no data, but based on the housing prices and the number of inhabitants, I'm sure it would be in the list.
+1
Level ∞
Nov 7, 2019
Okay
+1
Level 54
Jan 16, 2020
Dang, Iceland :(
+1
Level 66
Jan 30, 2020
I tried every country excepted via the quiz notes before I noticed the quiz notes.

Quite surprised that none of the small Persian Gulf nations make the list.

+1
Level 28
Jan 30, 2020
No I am wondering why China does not count
+11
Level 79
Feb 1, 2020
Because it is not amongst the 19 countries with the highest mean wealth per capita. Duh
+3
Level 82
Oct 25, 2022
And, not only is China only a middle income country today, it was recently a very poor country, so there hasn't been any opportunity to accumulate substantial intergenerational wealth, unlike countries that have been economically developed for a long time.
+1
Level 79
Feb 1, 2020
Surprised Germany isn't here.
+1
Level 72
Feb 18, 2020
Me too. Germany is the fourth biggest economy in the world. But, I suppose that since the population is so high, it fizzles out when taken per capita. Remember that East Germany was a poor country until the 1990', as well.
+4
Level 79
Apr 2, 2020
I don't think East Germany was all that poor. I think it was the wealthiest 'country' under Communist rule during the Cold War, and would still be considered one of the wealthier countries by world standards.
+1
Level 45
Mar 10, 2020
so your half a millionaire in switzerland :O
+3
Level 79
Apr 2, 2020
you're* 😉
+1
Level 62
Apr 16, 2020
man, if Monaco had proper data, theyd top this list.
+2
Level 89
Oct 25, 2022
According to this, most married U.S. couples constitute a millionaire.

All the people with more debt, like mortgages and college tuition, than assets are offset by people with way more money than the average bear.

+1
Level ∞
Oct 25, 2022
Mean vs. median
+2
Level 82
Oct 25, 2022
And it's a pretty stark difference for the US. The 2022 Credit Suisse report gives mean US wealth as $579,051 and the median as $93,271. I feel like the median figure is the more representative measure of central tendency in general and very much so here. And on that measure, the US falls behind the likes of Australia, Japan, Italy, Spain and Qatar.
+1
Level 89
Oct 25, 2022
Exactly. The mean average bears.
+1
Level 82
Nov 1, 2022
The average bear is mean.
+4
Level 82
Oct 25, 2022
Credit Suisse seems to have put out two reports on a very similar topic, with one being much more detailed than the other. While this quiz cites the 'Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report 2022', the relevant Wikipedia article cities the 'Global Wealth Databook 2022'. For some reason the former doesn't include Luxembourg, but the latter does. It also contains a lot more data that could be a good basis for other quizzes on this general topic, such as wealth composition, wealth growth, etc.
+2
Level ∞
Oct 26, 2022
Thank you. That source is much better. The quiz has been amended.
+2
Level 87
Oct 28, 2022
Somewhat surprised not to see South Korea on this list. (Not quite as surprised that North Korea isn't on it.)
+1
Level 72
Oct 28, 2022
And Japan, just based on property values. I once read that at one point the land under the Imperial Palace in central Tokyo was worth about as much as all the land in California.
+1
Level 48
Oct 31, 2022
What happened to Qatar, Singapore and UAE? (And perhaps even few more like Kuwait, Japan, South Korea or Portugal)
+2
Level 70
Oct 31, 2022
The only reason QM put the caveat "they're not better, they just have more money" is that he didn't want to admit there was anything good about Belgium.
+1
Level 38
Oct 31, 2022
So, basically another list of the world's most developed countries. Boring.
+1
Level 63
Nov 3, 2022
I'm really surprised that Japan and then all the rich micronations didn't make the list, such as Brunei, Monaco, San Marino, Qatar and Bahrain
+1
Level 76
Dec 12, 2022
Caveats specifically say that Monaco and San Marino aren't included because there is no data.