australians are wealthy

ABC Online;
It appears Australians have never been wealthier as total private sector wealth now exceeds $5 trillion.

Officially, private sector wealth is estimated at $5,013 billion, which is up 18 per cent in the past year.

Commonwealth Securities says that is $250,000 for every person living in Australia, contrasting with an average debt of $19,000.

Commonwealth Securities says that courtesy of rising house and share prices, private sector wealth, when adjusted for inflation, has doubled in the past seven years.

Meanwhile, Australia has been ranked 14th in the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report.

"It's a very commendable performance that Australia's made the top 15 out of 104 countries in the world on this very prestigious world ranking of competitiveness," Australian Industry Group chief executive Heather Ridout said.

Dave R.