A customer pays for a meal at a restaurant in Moscow, Russia. (Image: Reuters)
A report by Swiss bank UBS showed that Russian households and adults saw an increase in wealth despite sanctions on its economy and war in Ukraine.
Despite the war in Ukraine and sanctions being imposed on Russia by western nations accusing it of instigating an invasion, Russians have only gotten richer in 2022.
On the other hand, the US and Europe lost trillions of dollars and also witnessed economic uncertainty due to the cost of living crisis and rising inflation.
A report by Swiss bank UBS earlier this week showed that Russia added $600 billion of total wealth last year.
The number of Russian millionaires rose by about 56,000 to 408,000 in 2022. The number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals also rose to nearly 4,500. People who have amassed wealth over $50 million fall under the category of ultra-high-net-worth individuals.
Among the countries which lost more wealth than other countries was the US, with losses worth $5.9 trillion. The UBS report highlighted that North America and Europe got poorer by $10.9 trillion.
“Total wealth also rose by more than USD 600 billion in Iran, India, Mexico and Russia. But the noticeable feature of 2022 was the large reductions in wealth recorded by Australia, Canada and China, each of which lost more than $1 trillion,” the report said.
“These were topped by the USD 2.5 trillion lost by Japan and the $5.9 trillion shed by the United States. In percentage terms, New Zealand, Sweden, and Egypt posted the biggest losses, in part due to currency devaluations against the US dollar,” the report further added.
The number of American millionaires also decreased by the end of 2022 by 1 million. However, the US still accounts for over 50% of the world’s ultra-high-net-worth individuals, the UBS report highlighted.
The rise in wealth in Russia comes despite the sanctions which led the Russian economy to shrink and triggered a rout in Moscow’s stock exchange.
The report pointed out that it is difficult to determine the “wealth trends in Russia” but said it is among those nations which got richer in 2022.
Refinitiv data showed that the barrel of benchmark Urals crude rose by $7 last year which indicates that oil prices was one factor which could have contributed to the wealth spike. Oil exports are an important aspect of the Russian economy.
The UBS report also said that Mexico, India and Brazil also added significant amounts of wealth in 2022 and the US, Japan, China, Canada, and Australia lost the most.
(with inputs from Business Insider India)
