Despite high inflation, Turkey experienced the highest growth in wealth at 157%, according to the ranking.

• According to Swiss bank UBS's Global Wealth Report 2024, Türkiye experienced a remarkable increase of over 157% in wealth per adult between 2022 and 2023, surpassing all other countries.
• The U.S. had the lowest average wealth growth per adult among the next-highest countries, with only a 2.5% increase.
• The inflation rate in Turkey is approximately 71%, which is a significant increase for its population of 85 million people, resulting in a decrease in purchasing power for many individuals.

Despite high inflation rates, Turkey outperformed the rest of the world in an annual wealth ranking.

Switzerland leads the world with a remarkable increase of over 157% in wealth per adult from 2022 to 2023, according to UBS's Global Wealth Report 2024.

Nearly 20% and 20% were the average wealth growth rates for Russia and Qatar, respectively, while South Africa experienced just over 16% growth. In the U.S., average wealth per adult grew by nearly 2.5%.

Nearly 72% inflation in Turkey has left its 85 million people with a significant decrease in purchasing power over the past few years. In the last five years, the Turkish lira has lost nearly 83% of its value against the dollar, with 33 lira currently exchanging for one greenback as of 09:07 a.m. London time on Wednesday.

As inflation rises, the value of assets like homes for Turkish owners increases.

The UBS report describes net worth as the sum of a household's financial assets and real assets, minus their debts. During a call with journalists, some of the report's authors explained how inflation affects wealth growth in Turkey.

Samuel Adams, an economist at UBS Global Wealth Management, explained to CNBC that the high pace of inflation contributes to the rise in wealth in local currency terms, more than in other countries, as wealth is measured in nominal terms.

If inflation is high, real assets like housing tend to rise in line with or even faster, resulting in faster wealth accumulation for homeowners and equity holders.

"Adams acknowledged that not everyone will benefit equally, stating, "If your wage increases do not keep up with inflation, it will negatively affect you.""

The "currency effect" was observed in the report, which revealed that local currency growth figures for wealth can differ significantly from those in dollar terms.

Turkey's growth rate of over 63% in USD has more than doubled to nearly 158% in Turkish lira, according to the report. Japan, on the other hand, has experienced less than 2% average growth in wealth per adult in U.S. dollar terms between 2022-23, but in local currency, that growth was 9%.

According to UBS, Türkiye experienced the most significant growth in average wealth per adult between 2008 and 2023, with a 1708% increase in local currency.

In Turkey, being asset-rich may not necessarily mean being cash-rich, as pointed out by UBS Global Wealth Management's Chief Economist Paul Donovan.

Donovan pointed out last week that while the value of your house may increase, your real wage could still be negative, making you asset rich but cash poor.

"The stresses in the Turkish economy over the past few years may be attributed to negative real income rather than asset performance, according to him."