Tip: See my list of the Most Common Mistakes in English. It will teach you how to avoid mis­takes with com­mas, pre­pos­i­tions, ir­reg­u­lar verbs, and much more.

Credit Suisse recently published its annual wealth report comparing the wealth (net worth) of adults (as private individuals, i.e. not the wealth of the whole country divided by its population) in different countries.

Credit Suisse defines wealth = financial assets (e.g. bank deposits) + non-financial assets (e.g. real estate) – debt (if assets are less than debt, wealth can be negative). The map below shows estimates of the median wealth per adult by country, which is the middle value (50% own more, 50% own less):

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How do other major economies fare? The medians are (in 1000 USD): Japan 124, United States 56, China 6.7, Brazil 4.6, India 1.3.

There are a few surprising results, especially the low median wealth of Germans, Austrians, and Swedes. The reason is that home ownership in these countries is lower than in other western European countries (renting is more common).

This does not mean that the standard of living is lower in those countries. The standard of living is better characterized by indicators such as purchasing power index and disposable income.