[Skybird]

Tichy's Einblicke writes: https://www.tichyseinblick.de/wirtsc...len-vermoegen/


Neither on average nor on the mean does the Federal Republic of Germany rank among the top countries internationally in terms of wealth. Even within the EU, it performs poorly. Despite this, left-wing politicians are calling for even higher taxes. The Global Wealth Report 2023, which Credit Suisse uses regularly to measure global wealth distribution, reports two major trends for the past year: First, global inequality grew less strongly than before - but this was mainly because the decline on the stock markets in 2022 caused nominal wealth to shrink slightly overall, especially in the industrialized countries. At the same time, the middle class as a whole continues to grow worldwide, mainly due to the rise of Asian countries. This trend has been going on for more than two decades: Since 2000, the proportion of people globally with per capita net wealth between $10,000 and $100,000 has risen from 13.4 to 34.4 percent.

For Germany, however, the 2023 report shows very modest figures that clearly contradict the myth of the "rich country" that politicians and the media like to promote. The figures on the average and median wealth of the individual countries are interesting above all because they were not collected in such detail in earlier wealth reports. According to the ranking of the "Global Wealth Report," Germany is not among the world's top ten countries in terms of either average or median wealth per capita. Median wealth refers to the boundary that divides the bottom half of wealth owners from the top half. Median wealth refers to the boundary dividing the lower half of wealth holders from the upper half. A median figure therefore says more about the distribution than the pure average figure. According to Credit Suisse data, Germany ranked 16th globally in terms of average wealth in 2022, and 27th in terms of median wealth.

A comparison among industrialized countries in particular shows the differences in both fields. In terms of average wealth, Switzerland leads with an average net wealth of $685,230 per capita, followed by the USA with $551,350. The EU country with the highest average wealth - Denmark with $409,950 - is in fifth place. Germany, on the other hand, has an average wealth of $256,180, which is only slightly more than half as high. Three factors in particular put the Federal Republic relatively far behind in the comparison: First, because of the lowest EU home ownership rate of 51 percent, there are few properties in the hands of individual citizens here. Second, Germans still own far fewer shares than investors in most other industrialized countries. In the long term, securities provide good asset growth. And thirdly, many younger people in Germany in particular find it difficult to build up any assets at all because of the high tax and contribution burden - especially since real estate prices hardly allow average earners in urban centers to buy their own house or condominium.

The differences in median wealth are even more pronounced. Here, Belgium leads internationally with $249,940 per capita. Half of the adults own more than this amount, the other half less. In terms of median wealth, Switzerland ranks sixth with $167,350 per person, making it one of the countries that combine a high average wealth with a relatively broad distribution of wealth. The second, funded pillar of old-age provision, which is mandatory for the Swiss, contributes to this. With a median wealth of $133,630 per capita, France (10th place) also has a level of prosperity that is just over twice that of Germany. In the Federal Republic, median wealth in 2022 was just $66,735.

These figures are in stark contrast to the plans of Green and SPD politicians, who are calling for a wealth levy, justifying this demand with the allegedly high level of wealth in Germany. Recently, both Katrin Göring-Eckardt and SPD leader Saskia Esken have called for a "special levy" - even though the federal, state and local governments expect record tax revenues in 2023.

https://www.ubs.com/global/en/family...port-2023.html