Housing market slump means Australia has lost 124000 millionaires

PHOTO: The national property sector lost billions in value, particularly the Sydney market

No country in the world lost more millionaires this year than Australia, while the average adult felt a large loss to their wallets.

Falling house prices and the weaker Australian dollar caused the number of millionaires in the country to tumble, with 124,000 falling below the global mark in US dollar terms.

Wealth per adult slid from $US411,060 ($A599,000) to $US386,060 ($A563,000), meaning the average Aussie lost $36,000 over the year, according to Credit Suisse’s 2019 global wealth report.

No country in the world lost as much as Australia, which fell from being second in the global ranking in 2018 to fourth in 2019.

Average wealth per adult in the nation was only marginally better than the 2011 figure of $US384,640 ($A560,000).

Credit Suisse defines wealth in the annual rankings as the value of financial and real assets by households in relation to debt.

Median wealth in Australia in 2018 was the highest in the world at $US191,453 ($A279,000), but it was overtaken by Switzerland after falling to $US181,361 ($A264,000) in 2019.