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Picture: Wikimedia Commons/Julien Jorge
Tuesday, 23 September 2014 - 16:16
Netherlands fourth richest country in world
With an average net capacity of 71,430 euro in 2013, the Netherlands is the fourth richest country in the world.
Switzerland is at number one, while the United States and Belgium are second and third. Savings, investments, home ownership and debt are taken into account to calculate capacity.
Last year Dutch residents became 2,600 euros richer. Switzerland's capacity increased with 6% and the United States with more than 14 percent. The whole world became richer last year. The total capacity of private households increased by almost 10 percent, mainly due to the rising stock market prices in Europe, USA and Japan.
Partly due to the mortgage debt, the Dutch debt per resident is twice as high as the average in the eurozone. It amounted to an average of 50,180 euros. Thanks to the low interest rates in the past four years, 2.3 billion euro was saved.
The low interest rates made for less savings, but because there is less credit, interest payments also decreased.