Bangladesh further down in wealth distribution report

The citizens of Bangladesh with some other low-income countries in Asia have slid further down the wealth distribution pyramid, reveals a study.

According to the latest Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report, citizens of other low-income countries in the region include Indonesia, Pakistan and Vietnam.

The report shows Bangladesh in the most bottom group of countries under ‘frontier wealth’ with wealth below USD 5,000, which is heavily concentrated in central Africa and South Asia. This category also includes Cambodia, Nepal, and Sri Lanka from Asia and most part of Africa.

The report says that the wealthiest 0.7 per cent of the world population now owns 45.9 per cent of the world’s wealth. From the global pyramid 2017, from the below figure, only 36 million people of the world own approximately USD 128.7 trillion of wealth among USD 280.2 trillion.

Also from the statistics, the peak of the 2008 financial crisis, the world's richest people owned 42.5 per cent of the wealth. However, their wealth has steadily augmented since then.

Another interesting finding is that the most talked about generation, the millennials, has not been a lucky troop so far. The millennials tackled the rigours of the financial crisis and the high unemployment that followed in many other countries, and have also been broadly beaten by high and rising house prices, growing student liability/debt and increasing inequality. Even their pension outlook is too bad.

Credit Suisse also reported that overall global wealth has increased by 6.4 per cent from last year, and it is the fastest rate since 2012 because rising equity and house prices continue to improve those fortunate to own them.