In pictures: Global wealth declines for first time since the 2008 financial crisis

Global household wealth in US dollar terms has experienced its first aggregate decrease since 2008, along with a decline in wealth per adult both nominally and in real terms. According to Credit Suisse's annual global wealth report published on Tuesday, wealth per adult saw its second-largest reduction since 2000.

The 3.4% household wealth growth in 2022 was the lowest rate recorded in any year this century apart from 2008. It was also the only year this century, other than 2008, in which the total value of household financial assets declined even when exchange rate changes are discounted. The key contributors to this situation were the reduced value of financial assets, a stronger US dollar and elevated inflation.

Fiscal and monetary policies undertaken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with the Russia-Ukraine war and other factors, have resulted in a rise in global inflation.

Much of the 2022 decline in wealth came from the appreciation of the US dollar against many other currencies, which caused global wealth to decline by 5.8%. But this was offset by inflation, which raised nominal USD values by a similar amount.

Wealth increases among countries were more common overall than wealth losses, but the gains were generally small in magnitude. Rare exceptions included Russia, Mexico, India and Brazil, which all saw higher aggregate private wealth in 2022.

On a per adult basis, Norway, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates stood out with higher increases of average private wealth.

The number of US dollar millionaires worldwide fell by 3.5 million during 2022 to total 59.4 million at year-end. This number includes 4.4 million "inflation millionaires" who would no longer qualify if the millionaire threshold were adjusted for inflation during 2022.

The ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) group with wealth above $50 million had 22,490 fewer members by Credit Suisse estimate.

The data shows that the rise in wealth inequality during the pandemic was reversed in 2022. This reduction can be traced to the relative decline in financial wealth during 2022. Over the longer term, global wealth inequality has fallen this century due to the faster growth achieved in emerging markets. Global median wealth has risen in tandem at roughly twice the pace of mean wealth.

According to the projections, global wealth will rise by 38% over the next five years, reaching $629 trillion by 2027. Growth by middle-income countries will be the primary driver of global trends. We estimate wealth per adult to reach $110,270 in 2027 and the number of millionaires to reach 86 million while the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals is likely to rise to 372,000.