A new report by the World Bank: The Changing Wealth of Nations 2018, says global wealth grew significantly over the past two decades, even while per capita wealth fell or stagnated in more than two dozen countries in various income brackets.
Going beyond traditional measures such as GDP, the report uses wealth to monitor countries’ economic progress and sustainability.
The report tracks the wealth of 141 countries between 1995 and 2014 by aggregating natural capital (such as forests and minerals), human capital (earnings over a person’s lifetime); produced capital (buildings, infrastructure, etc.) and net foreign assets. Human capital was the largest component of wealth overall, while natural capital made up nearly half of wealth in low-income countries, the report found.
Commenting, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, said: “By building and fostering human and natural capital, countries around the world can bolster wealth and grow stronger. The World Bank Group is accelerating its effort to help countries invest more – and more effectively – in their people.
“There cannot be sustained and reliable development if we don’t consider human capital as the largest component of the wealth of nations,” he explained further.