People in the Netherlands have been ranked sixth in a listing of the world’s richest countries, by net assets per capita, according to this year's Allianz Global Wealth Report.

Compared with 2014, the Netherlands increased its wealth per capita from 71.430 to 78.063 euros per person, placing the country sixth globally, with Switzerland taking first place with 138.710.

In addition, the world’s top 10 rich list includes three other western European countries: the UK (86.230), Belgium (84.770) and Sweden (82.920). 

In the Netherlands, gross financial assets grew from last year by as much as 12,3 percent, driven by a strong increase in insurance and pension assets. The growth in net financial assets was even more exceptional: 21,6 percent.

Allianz Global Wealth Report - Top 10 countries' wealth per capita in 2015

Analysing household wealth worldwide

The report, compiled by the world's largest insurance company, analyses household wealth in more than 50 countries around the world. It subtracts debt such as mortgage from gross assets like savings, investments and property to calculate net wealth per head of population.

The study reveals how each country prefers to manage its financial assets by dividing the results into four categories: bank deposits, securities, insurance and pensions and other.

High insurance and pension assets

The report shows that 20 percent of the Netherland's capital is kept in bank deposits, 11 percent in securities and 66 percent in insurance and pensions.

This is not surprising, as the Netherlands has been ranked highly in income security in other research, such as the Global Ageing Index, where a 100 percent pension income coverage contributed to its sixth place worldwide. There are a number of Dutch pension schemes that are available to residents, including expats.

Insurance policies and pensions remain the favorite savings product among western Europe‘s households. This asset class witnessed strong growth of 11,1 percent last year, primarily driven by developments in the Netherlands (+18,5 percent) and the UK (+17 percent).

Private retirement provision is already extremely important in these countries, with this asset class accounting for 66 percent and 59,2 percent of the portfolio respectively at the end of 2014.

Insurance and Pension Assets Top 10 in Western Europe

45 percent of the total receivables of Western European households from insurers and pension institutions was attributable to these two countries alone.

In general, insurance companies and pension institutions experienced strong growth totaling 7,2 percent at a global level. 

Huge global wealth gap

A look at the world asset map tells a predictable story: the discrepancies between the savings of households in the richer regions and those in the world‘s poorer regions remain huge.

Not surprisingly, households in North America are crowned the richest worldwide, with net financial assets averaging 132.540 euros per capita at the end of 2014.

The largest increase in the growth of financial assets in 2014 was seen in Asia (excluding Japan), with an increase in the net financial assets of 18,2 percent. This trend can be attributed mainly to the strong - but not always sustainable - increase in investments, especially in China.

The Global Wealth Report also found that the whole world became wealthier in 2015, with total private wealth reaching 136 trillion euros, increasing by more than 7 percent from last year.