The global per capita liquid cash is less than $16,000. Let's see how wealthy you really are.

How much money can each person get? This is an interesting thought experiment. If all liquid assets worldwide were evenly distributed among the 8.16 billion people on Earth, the result might surprise you.

The True Scale of Global Liquid Assets

When considering how much money there is globally, we need to understand what truly counts as “available cash.” Economists measure this with the M2 money supply — which includes not just cash in pockets, but also bank demand deposits, savings accounts, and other highly liquid assets within a two-year period. Simply put, M2 is all the money you can quickly access in a relatively short time.

This concept is crucial because the actual global wealth is much larger. According to UBS’s 2024 Global Wealth Report, the world’s private net wealth reaches $487.9 trillion, but these figures include assets like real estate and stocks that are difficult to liquidate quickly. What we’re discussing now are the “spendable” funds.

The Results Revealed by Data: $15,000 Per Capita

According to data from the economic data provider CEIC 2024, the global M2 money supply has reached $123.3 trillion. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs reports that the current global population is about 8.16 billion.

If this $123.3 trillion were evenly divided, each person would get $15,108, approximately €13,944. What can this amount do? It could cover two years of average household expenses, buy a used car, or — as various economic analyses point out — just enough to purchase a basic Dacia Sandero (without additional features).

This number might seem substantial at first glance, but considering the enormous disparities in global wealth — from farmers in Wisconsin to potters in New Delhi, from shepherds in Namibia to dentists in Sydney — the actual distribution is vastly uneven.

A Comparative Case: Spain with $33,000 Per Capita

Performing the same experiment at the national level yields different results. Take Spain, for example. According to CEIC data from December 2024, the country’s M2 money supply is $1.648 trillion. The Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE) reports that Spain has about 49.08 million residents as of January 2025.

After dividing evenly, each Spaniard would receive $33,571 (about €30,968), more than double the global average. This reflects the differences in financial depth among economies — developed economies typically have more liquid assets and more mature financial systems.

This comparison vividly illustrates that the question of how much money there is globally is not just about the total amount, but also about the extreme unevenness in distribution.