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There are 237,000 New Zealanders who rank among the worlds wealthiest 1%, a new report shows. Credit Suisse and UBS have launched the latest edition of the Global Wealth Report, for 2022, which showed a decline in global wealth for the first time since 2008 although a significant portion of this is explained by the US dollar becoming stronger against other currencies. But even if exchange rates had not moved from 2021, the total wealth increase of 3.4% and per adult increase of 2.2% would be the slowest since 2008, and a loss of 2.6% after inflation. Wealth is measured as financial assets plus real assets, such as housing minus debt. Private pension fund assets are included, such as KiwiSaver, but not entitlements to pensions, such as NZ Super. New Zealand had one of the largest decreases in wealth per adult once adjusted for inflation, just behind Sweden. The report noted that this countrys house price falls were a factor. Over time New Zealanders wealth has become more reliant on non-financial assets, such as real estate, the report noted. On an average wealth per adult basis, New Zealand ranked sixth, with US$388,750, down US$67,420 in 2022 compared to the year before. On a median basis, New Zealand ranked fourth behind Belgium, Australia and Hong Kong, at US$193,060. There were 255,000 New Zealanders with wealth above US$1 million, down 75,000 from 2021. There were 2.05 million New Zealanders in the top 10% of global wealth-holders, and the country had total wealth of US$1.4 trillion. Wealth of US$137,333 was required to be in the worlds top 10% and US$1.081m to be in the top 1%. Infometrics chief executive Brad Olsen said the recent trends in wealth highlighted the changes seen in the housing market, with house prices dropping considerably and share market holdings also facing a more challenging time over the report period. New Zealand had experienced a fall in wealth inequality since the GFC, the report said. The share of the top 1% had fallen dramatically from 24.8% in 2007 to 20.1%. This drop in concentration at the top end is consistent with the observed change in asset composition, whereby New Zealand saw a drop in financial assets from 57% of total assets in 2007 to 51.4% in 2022. Nannette Hechler-Faydherbe, chief investment officer for the EMEA region and global head of economics and research at Credit Suisse, said: Wealth evolution proved resilient during the Covid-19 era and grew at a record pace during 2021. But inflation, rising interest rates and currency depreciation caused a reversal in 2022. Over the next five years, we expect global wealth will rise by 38% reaching US$629 trillion by 2027, with wealth per adult looking set to increase by 30% to reach US$110,270. We also expect the number of millionaires to grow markedly over the next five years to reach 86 million, while the number of ultra-high net worth individuals will rise to 372,000.