An annual global study conducted by Credit Suisse revealed the effect of yet another tumultuous economic year on Greek households.
Data from mid 2014 until mid 2015 showed that the average Greek’s wealth fell from 98,097 dollars to 81,432 dollars in mid 2015, which translates to a 16.9% decline. Total wealth fell from 894 billion in mid 2014 to 743 billion in mid 2015.
Credit Suisse estimates the wealth of households by considering non financial assets such as housing and farms as well as financial assets such as currency, equities, and other financial assets that include assets such as pension funds.
Greece also carries the burden of being among the study’s five countries whose middle class has shrunk in the 21st century.
“The middle class contracted in size this century in five countries: Argentina, Egypt, Greece, Russia and Turkey. In each case, the middle class expanded between 2000 and 2007, then shrank as a result of the financial crisis and continued to shed members from 2008 onwards. After trebling in size by 2007, Russia has lost more middle class members since 2008 than any other country. Like Greece and Turkey, the middle class in Russia is only a little smaller now than in 2000, ” the report reads.
The report explains that since 2008 the number of adults in Greece who are considered middle class has fallen by 800,000. Overall the decrease in the same number from 2000 until today is 100,000.
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