Revealed: Top 10 richest countries in the world

Data shows that every resident - man, woman and child - holds Dh6.23 million ($1.71m) worth of assets

A new report published on Tuesday ranks the world's richest countries in terms of total wealth held (also known as the W10).

According to New World Wealth (NWW), the publisher of the report, 'total wealth held' refers to the private wealth held by all the individuals living in each country.

It includes all their assets (property, cash, equities, business interests) less any liabilities. NWW says it excludes government funds from its figures.

In the same report, NWW reveals the top 10 countries that boast of richest residents - the 10 wealthiest countries in the world by per capita wealth.

The report ranks the world's second-smallest country Monaco, home to the Grand Prix de Monaco and known as the super-yachts capital of the world, as the one with the richest residents.

Data shows that every Monaco resident - man, woman and child - holds Dh6.23 million ($1.71m) worth of assets.

The 10 wealthiest countries in the world by per capita wealth, 2016
Rank	Country	Wealth per capita (US$)
1	Monaco	1,711,600
2	Liechtenstein	646,600
3	Luxembourg	309,800
4	Switzerland	298,000
5	Australia	225,000
6	Norway	200,900
7	Singapore	166,700
8	United States	158,600
9	Canada	157,400
10	Hong Kong	143,100
Source: New World Wealth

According to NWW, the high average wealth of people living in Monaco reflects:

· Its tax haven status - people living in Monaco pay no income tax. This attracts wealthy people to move there and also promotes business formation in the country.

· Offshore center - Monaco operates as an offshore center for the European wealth sector, which brings a large number of wealthy financiers to the country.

· Its location on prime part of the French Riviera.

· High proportion of multi-millionaires - approximately 2,400 of Monaco's 40,000 residents are worth over $10 million.

· It is a hotspot for super-yacht owners and one of the most popular yacht docking spots in the region.

· High real estate prices - Monaco apartments are the most expensive in the world per square meter.

· Snob appeal - Monaco is synonymous with wealth, luxury and fame.

The same report elaborates on the wealthiest nations, with the United States topping that list with long margin. The US holds $51.3 trillion in wealth while No. 2 ranked China holds $19.1 trillion, less than half of the leader.

W10: The 10 wealthiest countries in the world by total wealth held, 2016
Rank	Country		Wealth (US$ billion), 2016
1	United States		51 300
2	China		19 100
3	Japan		16 000
4	United Kingdom		8 700
5	Germany		8 700
6	India		6 200
7	France		6 000
8	Canada		5 400
9	Australia		5 000
10	Italy		3 900
Note: Figures for December 2016. Source: New World Wealth

China is has been the fastest growing W10 country over the past 10 years (in terms of US$ wealth growth). Australia and India also grew strongly. India, Australia and Canada have overtaken Italy over the past year.

Reasons why wealth per capita is a better measure of financial health than GDP per capita:

· GDP counts items multiple times (for instance, if someone is paid $100 for a product/service and they then pay someone else that $100 for another product/service, then that adds $200 to a country's GDP even though only $100 has been produced at the start). This is why some analysts prefer using export figures or GDP generated from primary sectors as a measure of financial health.

· GDP ignores the efficiency of the local banking sector and the local stock market at retaining wealth in a country.

· GDP disregards income levels in a country.

· In certain countries, a large portion of GDP flows to the government and therefore has little impact on private wealth creation (example: Zimbabwe).

Wealth statistics, on the other hand, take all of these factors into account, which makes 'per capita wealth' a far better measure of the financial health of an economy than 'per capita GDP'.

Worldwide stats (at the end of 2016):

· Worldwide wealth held by individuals amounted to approximately US$192 trillion.

· The average individual had net assets of US$27,000 (wealth per capita).

· There were approximately 13.6 million HNWIs (millionaires) in the world and worldwide HNWI wealth stood at US$69 trillion.

· There were 522,000 multi-millionaires in the world.