But the research by Credit Suisse found the distribution of the riches has become increasingly unequal - with the median wealth plunging¹ 14 per cent since 2007 to $3,641 per adult.

 

As a sign of wealth concentration, the number of dollar millionaires globally has shot up 164 per cent since 2000 to 34.8million individuals today - with 41 per cent of them living in the United States.

 

Global wealth now stands 20 per cent above the peak before the global financial crisis and 39 per cent above the low seen at the height of the crisis in 2008, according to the Global Wealth Report.

 

It said: "The overall global economy may remain sluggish², but this has not prevented personal wealth from surging ahead during the past year."

 

The study of the wealth holdings of 4.7billion adults in more than 200 countries found aggregate³ household wealth has more than doubled since 2000, when it stood at $117trillion.

 

And in the next five years, wealth is expected to rise by 40 per cent to $369trillion. Today, each adult has an average of $56,000 - an all-time high for average net worth.

 

The decline in the median to $3,641 - the level at which half of the sample is lower and half higher - indicates that inequality, which remained flat or declined from 2000 to 2007, is once again rising.

 

"The findings show that inequality has tended to rise since 2008, particularly in developing economies," Markus Stierli of the Credit Suisse Research Institute said.

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