Appendices

Appendix A: Methodological comments

General assumptions

The Allianz Global Wealth Report analyses gross financial assets held by households, i.e., cash and bank deposits, receivables from insurance companies and pension institutions, securities (shares, bonds and investment funds) and other receivables, and liabilities incurred by households. It is based on data from 57 countries. This group of countries covers 91% of global GDP and 72% of the global population. In 43 countries, we had access to statistics from the macroeconomic financial accounts. In the other countries, we were able to estimate the volume of total financial assets based on information from household surveys, bank statistics, statistics on assets held in equities and bonds and technical reserves.

In order to rule out exchange rate distortions over time, the financial assets were converted into the national currency based on the exchange rate at the end of 2023. The closing date for data to be included in the report is July 31st.

Statistical distinctions

The process associated with the introduction of the European System of Accounts 2010 (ESA 2010) in September 2014 involved updating and harmonizing the guidelines governing the preparation of many macroeconomic statistics. The new requirements also apply to the macroeconomic financial accounts. One change relates to private households: under the ESVG 2010 regulations, the two sectors "Private households" and "Private organizations without pecuniary reward" are no longer grouped, but are now reported separately. This also has implications for the Allianz Global Wealth Report, which takes data from the macroeconomic financial accounts as a basis where available. For many countries, however – particularly those outside of the EU – there is no separate data available for these sectors in general. So in order to ensure global comparability, this publication analyzes both sectors together under the heading "private households".

Determination of wealth bands for global wealth classes

Lower wealth threshold: There is a close link between financial assets and the incomes of private households. According to Davies et al. (2009)¹², private individuals with below-average income tend to have no assets at all, or only very few. It is only when individuals move into middle and higher income groups that they start to accumulate any assets to speak of.

We have applied this link to our analysis. Countries in the upper-middle income bracket (based on the World Bank's country classification system) therefore form the group in which the average assets of private households has reached a relevant volume for the first time. This value marks the lower threshold for the global middle wealth class. How high should this value be?

In terms of income, households with incomes that correspond to between 75% and 150% of average net income are generally considered to constitute the middle class. According to Davies et al., households with income corresponding to 75% of the average income have assets that correspond to 30% of the average assets. As far as the upper threshold is concerned, 150% of average income corresponds to 180% of average assets. Consequently, we have set the threshold values for the wealth middle class at 30% and 180% of average per capital assets. If we use net financial assets to calculate the two thresholds, we arrive at an asset range of between EUR9,700 and EUR57,900 for the global middle wealth class in 2023.

Individuals with higher per capita financial assets then belong to the global high wealth class, whereas those with lower per capita financial assets belong to the low wealth class.

¹² Davies, James B. et al. (2009), The level and distribution of global household wealth, NBER working paper 15508