The financial assets in industrial and emerging countries declined simultaneously for the first time last year, suggests the annual Allianz Global Wealth Report, released this week. In spite of this trend, Czech households saw an increase by 4.4 percent on the previous year.

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According to the study carried out by Allianz, which analyses the global wealth and debt situation of households, the Czech Republic remains one of the wealthiest countries of the former Eastern Bloc.

On average, Czechs are two and half times wealthier than their closest neighbours, the Slovaks. In terms of the volume of net financial assets, Czech households moved one rung up the ladder to 25th spot, compared to the previous year.

In terms of gross financial assets, which include all movable and immovable assets of the average Czech citizen, the Czech Republic shot two spaces up the ladder to 28th spot. The average wealth of Czech citizens last year reached 434,000 crowns (around 16,785 euros). In 2017, that figure stood at 390,000 crowns (15,290 euros).

At the same time, the Czech population’s debt amounted to 34.6 percent, which is significantly higher that the eastern European average of 23.6 percent.

The average wealth of a Slovak citizen was 6,255 euros. According to the Allianz report, that classifies Slovakia, along with Romania, as a poor country.

On the other hand, Germans are on average three times as wealthy as Czechs. In 2018, a German citizen owned wealth worth 52,860 euros on average, while an Austrian has assets worth 53,980 euros on average.

According to the authors of the study, the weak development in China, where assets fell by 3.4%, played a key role in the global decline of financial assets in both industrial and emerging countries.

“It seems that the trade disputes have set an abrupt stop sign for the catching-up process of the poorer countries. Industrialized countries, however, did not benefit either,” the study concludes.