A recent report by UBS, a Zurich-based global firm providing financial services in over 50 countries, has placed Turkey at the top of a global list detailing average growth in wealth per adult from 2022 to 2023, calculated in both the Turkish lira and the US dollar.
According to the “Global Wealth Report 2024,” Turkey left all other nations far behind with its staggering growth of over 157 percent in local currency and an exceptional growth of over 63 percent in the US dollar.
In average growth in wealth per adult in local currency, Turkey was followed by Qatar and Russia with an increase close to 20 percent, South Africa with just over 16 percent and Israel with 14 percent.
The most dramatic evolution in average wealth per adult has taken place in Turkey in terms of the local currency, with a surge of 1,708 percent between 2008, when UBS’s first report was released, and 2023.
UBS’s report defines “wealth” or net worth as the value of financial assets plus real assets owned by households, minus their debts.
The report also included estimates about how global wealth may evolve in the years to come. The firm’s forecast suggests that the number of adults with wealth of over one million dollars will have risen in 52 out of the 56 markets in its sample by 2028.
The firm estimates the number of dollar millionaires to increase by 43 percent in Turkey in the next five years, rising from 60,787 in 2023 to 87,077 in 2028.
UBS’s report comes at a time when the Turkish government is under fire for the high cost of living in the country, where inflation stands above 70 percent, and faces accusations of favoring the rich over the poor in taxation and other economic policies, which many say has led to income equality.
According to Income Distribution Statistics, 2023, published by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) in January, the wealthiest 20 percent of the Turkish population saw their share of total income rise from 48 percent in 2022 to 49.8 percent last year. During the same period the portion of total income for the poorest 20 percent decreased from 6 percent to 5.9 percent.
There are 27 billionaires, 23 men and four women, from Turkey who appeared on the latest Forbes list of worldwide billionaires.