NZ wealth growth on top of the world

New Zealand's wealth has grown more than that of any other country in the world since 2000, according to a new report released by Credit Suisse.

It ranks NZ top, just ahead of Australia, in wealth growth per adult in the past 14 years, with both countries ahead of China.

The report says New Zealand has benefited from "favourable currency movements'' and when measured at current exchange rates, the average wealth of New Zealanders has grown by more than 300 per cent since 2000.

The New Zealand dollar was trading at around the 40 US cent mark in 2000. This morning the local currency was trading at 78.33 US cents.

According to the global wealth report, a person needs just US$3650 - including the value of equity in their home - to be among the wealthiest half of world citizens. However, more than US$77,000 is needed to be in the top 10 per cent, and US$798,000 to belong to the top 1 per cent.

"Taken together, the bottom half of the global population own less than 1 per cent of total wealth. In sharp contrast, the richest decile hold 87 per cent of the world's wealth, and the top percentile alone account for 48.2 per cent of global assets," said the Credit Suisse report.

"The changing distribution of wealth is now one of the most widely discussed and controversial of topics.... We are confident that the depth of our data will make a valuable contribution to the inequality debate," the report said.

Read the full Credit Suisse Global Wealth report here:

- with Independent