Australians are the richest people in the world, with a median wealth three times that of the average American, a new report has shown.
America ranked second in terms of average wealth per adult at $US579,050 ($A826,310), a recently released report from investment bank Credit Suisse found – but that statistic is famously skewed upwards by the very, very wealthy.
According to the “more relevant” metric of median wealth, however, Credit Suisse said Australians came out on top.
Australians collected a higher median wealth per adult than anywhere else in the world at $US273,900 ($A390,870) – nearly three times the median wealth of $US93,270 ($A133,100) in the US.
Australia was followed on the rich list by Belgium and New Zealand, with the US trailing behind at number 18.
Professor Susan Thorp, an finance professor at the University of Sydney Business School, said Australians had their superannuation savings to thank for the huge discrepancy.
Wealth was defined as the value of a household’s financial and real assets – including real estate and super – minus any debt.
“About 40 per cent of US households don’t have private retirement accounts like our superannuation, and rely mainly on social security payments after they leave the workforce,” Professor Thorp told news.com.au.
“The report includes retirement savings assets, but not entitlement to state pensions – which means our superannuation savings are counted, but US social security entitlements are not.”
Australia’s compulsory super system meant even Australians on the poorer end of the median wealth scale could accumulate financial assets, Professor Thorp added.
“Superannuation accounts for around 20 per cent of the assets of the bottom 20 per cent of Australian households,” she said.
“That means lower wealth households can benefit from the growth in financial asset values. This is less likely for lower wealth households in the US, who typically don’t hold stocks and shares, either directly or indirectly, because they don’t have retirement accounts.”
House prices – boosted by a pandemic real estate boom – also played a role.
Professor Thorp said it was “hard to make comparisons” between the housing markets of the two countries – but since most Australians live in major cities, they’re more likely to see rapid growth in the value of their homes.
The US’s dominance in terms of average wealth likely pointed towards a greater degree of economic inequality – as very rich residents can pull average wealth upwards at the expense of poorer Americans.
Notably, the report showed the US was home to the largest number of “ultra-high-net-worth” individuals, with more than 140,000 ultra rich people to drag the country’s average wealth stat upwards.
