Show Me The Money

Charts on the distribution of global wealth

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How much money exists on Earth?

To answer this question, we need to define the different forms of money.

• M0 currency = physical currency in circulation, including coins, notes and bills ($7 trillion)

• M1 currency = M0 currency + digital money held in current/checking accounts ($59 trillion)

• M2 currency = M0 currency + M1 currency + digital money held in market funds, savings accounts and other ($125 trillion)

M2 currency doesn’t include the following: 

• Cryptocurrencies - currently valued at $1.18 trillion

• Money held in the stock market - $95 trillion as of May 2021

• Money in real estate - $281 trillion in 2022

• Money in the derivatives market - $15.5 trillion in 2022 (using market value)

• Commodities such as oil ($103.8 trillion in 2022) and gold ($12.4 trillion in 2022) 

So, combining everything together (and ignoring the date discrepancies), we have an estimated $633.88 trillion. Although of course, we’ll never truly know how much money is on earth.

Show me the money 

Now let’s take a look at the global distribution of this money.

It’s no surprise that the countries with the most of this wealth are the United States, China, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and India. In fact, those seven countries combined possess 69% of the world’s wealth.

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Why is global wealth so skewed?

The wealth gap between the rich and the poor has continued to widen in recent decades. According to Oxfam, the top 26 billionaires possess more wealth than the poorest 3.8 billion people combined. 

Let that sink in - the combined wealth of just 26 people is equivalent to that of almost HALF of our global population.

The global distribution of billionaires provides insight into the broader issue of wealth distribution worldwide.

Geographically, the distribution of billionaires is highly skewed. The majority of billionaires are concentrated in North America, Europe, and Asia. In contrast, regions like Africa and parts of Latin America have fewer billionaires, who are also less wealthy.

Overall, the concentration of wealth among billionaires underscores the stark disparities in global wealth distribution. 

Created by Shivani 

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