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Swiss top richest people list

November 22, 2016

For the 16th year in a row, Switzerland tops the table of the richest people in the world, according to the annual "Global Wealth Report" by Credit Suisse. Germany is catching up, but is still far behind.

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Woman throwing around banknotes
Image: K.-U. Häßler - Fotolia

The latest "Global Wealth Report" by Switzerland's largest lender, Credit Suisse, showed Tuesday that the Swiss were still the richest people in the world, with an average wealth of $561,900 (528,399 euros).

People in the US trailed with assets worth $344,700, followed by the British, where adults had an average net worth of $288,800, the Zurich-based bank reported, adding that people in the UK had lost $1.5 trillion of the country's privately held assets because of the pound's depreciation in the wake of the nation's pro-Brexit vote.

Germans are not to be found in the top group, although they gained some ground due to rising property prices that added to their private wealth in no small way.

Money attracts more money

The Global Wealth Report said Germans' average wealth rose by 2.8 percent between mid-2015 and mid-2016 to reach $185,175.

Wealth: Not enough for most

Over the same period, Europe's powerhouse added 44,000 dollar millionaires, with a total of 1.6 million millionaires now living in the country.

Globally, the group of super-rich people rose by 3 percent, the report said, estimating that there were now 5,200 people in the world owning at least $500 million each, driven in particular by increases in Asia.

hg/jd (dpa, IFAX)