Aussies are the third richest people on the planet. Why is this so?

If you’re an average Australian, you’ve just won a bronze medal in the annual race to see which country’s populations are the world’s wealthiest! Yep, we came in third, trailing Switzerland and the USA. And we were seen as a huge improver, rising seven places since last year’s survey.

When you think about it, one determined politician and a team of short-sighted politicians are behind our surge in wealth. More on that later.

The work on who’s the richest globally is done by insurer Allianz that has a vested interest in knowing who has what, what needs to be insured and what they can reasonably charge. The table below shows the top 10 wealthiest countries. Note our Kiwi cousins are in 5^thplace.

Source: Allianz/AFR

The AFR’s Andrew Mobbs poured over the data and noted the following:

1. We rose seven places.
2. Japan dropped eight places to number 19!
3. Sweden slipped six places to number 11.
4. Our exposure to real estate and superannuation, helped by a surging stock market, has powered our relative wealth higher.

Considering this final point, it clearly shows the determination of Paul Keating to make superannuation compulsory and put a place in plan to raise what Canberra takes from our salaries to invest in high growth assets, such as shares. Keating’s move has made the average Aussie wealthier. A bi tick to our former PM.

Meanwhile, the lack of foresight by ensuring politicians in not doing enough to increase the supply of housing, while letting immigration levels rise without considering where people live and how much it costs to find housing, has led to a fantastic rise in house prices. The dumb, lazy play by too many politicians has made those with properties the third wealthiest in the world. Those politicians don’t get a tick, despite the payoff for those whose assets have carried us into the top three richest countries.

But this survey isn’t just a “wow, look at that” affair because Hobbs says the wealth-building companies of the world are now eyeing off Australia. “The surge in Australian wealth, particularly in the $4.2 trillion superannuation sector, is attracting the interest of global wealth managers, said Ben James, the chief executive of high net worth investment adviser Escala Partners. “Just over 48 per cent of Australians’ gross financial assets are invested in insurance and superannuation products, well above the global average of just under 26 per cent.”

Experts predict our super industry will grow by 9.5% to 12% over the years, which has captured the attention of global wealth-related businesses. There’s also a view that via super funds and education, Australians are now more sophisticated investors, with greater exposure to overseas stock and bond markets, which has helped drive up returns from investing.

Also, our lack of housing supply as our population grew has pushed up property prices and the wealth of Australians who own a home. In fact, Australia has had one of the fastest growths in population of Western economies in the whole world.

This is how tradingeconomics.com sees our property story: “Residential Property Prices in Australia increased 3.47 percent in June of 2025 over the same month in the previous year. Residential Property Prices in Australia averaged 8.07 percent from 1971 until 2025, reaching an all-time high of 37.57 percent in the first quarter of 1989 and a record low of -7.42 percent in the second quarter of 2019”.

An average rise of property prices of 8.07% per annum over 1971 to 2025 is a huge return from any safe asset like property. And for those who’ve owned a bricks and mortar asset over that time have a lot of shortsighted politicians to thank for that.

Meanwhile, younger Australians better start voting for those politicians who’ll move heaven and earth to increase the supply of housing ASAP.