G lobal wealth, currently held by 4.4 billion adults, has increased by 72 per cent since the year 2000 to reach $195 trillion.

The Credit Suisse Research Institute estimates that global wealth will grow by 61 per cent to $315 trillion by 2015, driven by robust economic expansion in the emerging markets.

However, unequal wealth distribution is a matter of concern. As the rich-poor gap is growing wider, how fairly is wealth distributed among people?

The higher a Gini coefficient the more unequal is the distribution of wealth. A low Gini coefficient indicates a more equal distribution, with 0 corresponding to complete equality, while higher Gini coefficients indicate more unequal distribution, with 1 corresponding to complete inequality.

Household wealth in Japan is the second highest at $21 trillion.

Adult population (million): 100.933Adult population (%): 2.7Wealth per adult ($):227,600Wealth (%):18.3