Trend Wealth growth shifts from real investment to paper gains

Summary

MGI finds that wealth growth in 2025 relied even more than before on asset values rising faster than real investment and output, producing record levels of wealth on paper. Only 20 percent of household wealth growth came from net new investment, meaning machinery and equipment, homes and buildings, infrastructure, and intellectual property after depreciation, compared with an average of 30 percent over 2000 to 2024. Nearly 60 percent came from asset prices rising faster than general inflation together with negative net worth in other sectors. The report counts the latter as claims households hold that are not backed by assets, such as equity valued above corporate net assets or government bonds exceeding government assets. Paper gains had driven only about a third of global wealth growth on average between 2000 and 2024, so the 2025 figure marks a clear shift.