There are around 200 individuals in Slovenia who have between US$20 million and US$100 million in personal financial assets, and there are also a few who have over US$100 million and own 30% of total financial wealth in the country, follows from a report by the Boston Consulting Group.

The distribution of financial wealth in Slovenia shows an interesting bipolar picture, the managing director and partner at Boston Consulting Group, Melanie Seier Larsen, wrote in a press release on 13 July accompanying the company's Global Wealth Report 2023.

She pointed out that about 40% of total financial wealth is held by those with less than US$250,000, while globally the figure is 32%.

On the other hand, there is a high concentration of wealth in the hands of a small number of very rich people in Slovenia, who own more than US$100 million in financial assets. They own 30% of the total financial wealth in Slovenia, compared to 13% globally.

The report shows that net personal financial assets in Slovenia rose at an average annual rate of 6.4% between 2017 and the end of 2022, reaching US$100 billion, and are expected to increase at an average annual rate of 6.1% until 2027.

Slovenia also stands out in terms of the share of cash deposits and cash in financial assets. Deposits and cash account for around half of Slovenians' total wealth, which is above the Eastern European (46%) and global (30%) shares and is expected to continue to grow.

Meanwhile, the share of stocks, long-term life savings and pension savings is declining, which may lead to a loss of real value of personal wealth in such a high inflation environment, Seier Larsen warned.

The value of tangible assets in Slovenia - such as real estate, movable property, precious metals - rose at an annual rate of 7.1% between 2017 and 2022, to reach around US$100 billion, the Boston Consulting Group said. It projected an average annual growth rate of 5.6% until 2027 for a total value of US$200 million.

The report's global data show that, for the first time since the economic crisis in 2008, individuals' financial wealth contracted last year, by 4% to a total of US$255,000 billion. The year before, it had increased by 10%, one of the strongest increases in more than a decade. In Slovenia, financial wealth increased by 2% last year.

The report lists inflation and rising interest rates, as well as weak capital markets as a result of geopolitical uncertainties due to the war in Ukraine as the reasons for the global downturn.

The Boston Consulting Group expects last year's decline to be short-lived, with assets expected to increase by 5% this year to US$267,000 billion.