Money is the medium of exchange for goods and services. It doesn’t literally make the world go around, but countries’ economies rely on exchanging money for products and services.
Money supply data is usually analyzed and published by the government or the central bank of the country. Since it is present in various forms (virtual and physical) in different currencies, it’s extremely difficult to determine the exact total amount.
To make things easier, we have converted currencies into the US dollar. And since US statistics are easily available, we can examine this question in many different ways.
Short Answer
- Approximately $8.27 trillion US dollars are currently in circulation worldwide, which includes both physical currency and the funds held in savings and checking accounts.
- The total value of money held in investments, derivatives, and cryptocurrencies surpasses $3.3 quadrillion.
Table of Contents
Different Types of Money
Generally, different types of money are classified as “M”s. They range from M0 (narrowest) to M3 (broadest), depending on the policy formulation of the country’s central bank.
The Federal Reserve System — central bank of the United States of America — for instance, publishes data on three monetary:
M0: All physical currency in circulation, including coins, notes, and bills, is called M0 money.
M1: includes all of the currency in the M0 money supply, plus all of the money held in demand deposits, travelers checks, other checkable deposits, and negotiable order of withdrawal. Basically, M1 money contains currency and assets that can be rapidly converted into cash.
M2: includes all elements of M1, plus saving deposits, mutual funds, money market securities, and other time deposits. Usually, these assets are used as an exchange medium and are less liquid than M1.
M3: is M2 plus large certificates of deposits, institutional money market funds, and short-term repurchase agreements. These assets are less liquid than other elements of the money supply.
The Federal Reserve System hasn’t tracked M3 money since 2006 because all valuable information on economic activity is already available in the M2 money supply.
So How Much Money Is Out There?
According to the US Federal Reserve data, there is $2.3 trillion in circulation and $3.1 trillion in reserve balance. As of July 2023, the M1 money supply is $18.4 trillion.
If you are looking for all the physical money (notes and coins) and the money deposited in savings and checking accounts worldwide, you could expect to find approximately $40 trillion. This figure represents only ‘narrow money.’
However, if you add the ‘broad money,’ the amount rises to over $90.4 trillion. This amount further increases when you include bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies.
Money in the form of investments, derivatives, and cryptocurrencies exceeds $3.3 quadrillion. This is what it looks like written out: $3,300,000,000,000,000. That’s a lot of zeros. This is a much more significant amount compared to the total money in the stock market, which is a mere $95 trillion.
Money in the Stock Market
As of March 2024, the total market capitalization of all publicly traded securities across the world was over $115 trillion US dollars. This includes the market cap of all equities, bonds, and other publicly traded securities.
The US has the biggest stock market worldwide, with a market cap of more than $47 trillion dollars. Leading tech companies such as Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, and NVIDIA make up nearly 23% of the S&P 500 stock market index.
Other major stock markets are China ($11.9 trillion), Japan ($5.6 trillion), India ($3.7 trillion), and the UK ($3.4 trillion).
The market cap of all publicly traded securities represents the overall value of the global financial system. It can also be seen as a measure of the total wealth of investors worldwide.
Money in real-estate
According to Savills, a well-known real estate service company, the global value of real estate is estimated to be over $326 trillion as of 2023. This is more than the value of the world’s bonds and stocks combined.
About 79% of the entire real estate market consists of residential properties. These are places where people live, like houses and apartments. The rest (21%) is made up of commercial real estate. This includes office buildings, stores, and factories.
Money in cryptocurrencies
According to CoinMarketCap, the total market cap of all cryptocurrencies is $1.09 trillion as of 2023. It represents a small portion of the total money in the world.
Bitcoin ($518 billion) and Ethereum ($192 billion) together account for nearly 17.6% of the total cryptocurrency market cap. Other notable cryptocurrencies include Tether, USD Coin, Binance Coin, and XRP.
Gross World Product (GWP) Value
According to the Central Intelligence Agency, the gross world product (combined gross national product of all countries) in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) in 2023 is approximately $134.08 trillion.
Wealth Distribution
Wealth is distributed very unevenly among people. Astonishingly, the richest 1% of individuals on Earth own more than half of the world’s wealth, while the bottom 50% of individuals own less than 1% of the world’s wealth.
This inequality is more pronounced in the United States, where the richest 1% of individuals own more than 40% of the country’s wealth. According to Snopes, 735 billionaires collectively own more wealth ($4.5 trillion) than the bottom half of the US households ($4.1 trillion).
In the 2023 list of the world’s billionaires, Forbes included 2,640 billionaires with a total net wealth of $12.2 trillion. Surprisingly, the top 81 billionaires have more wealth than half of the world combined.
Future Of the Money
The total quantity of money in circulation will increase in the future as more investments flow in, and developing countries stabilize their economies.
However, the use of physical money will reduce in the coming years. We are entering a digital economy, and as digital payments gain more popularity, the amount of physical money will likely fall even further.
Cryptocurrencies are likely to play a significant role there. The underlying technology behind cryptos, blockchain, will find broader applications in various financial and non-financial sectors. This could potentially revolutionize the way transactions and record-keeping are done.
Many countries are moving toward becoming cashless societies, where digital payment methods (like contactless cars, online banking, and mobile wallets) are more prevalent.
In Sweden, for example, only 20% of all transactions are now made in cash. Their national bank forecasts that the amount of physical money circulating in the country will be reduced by 50% by 2050.
Furthermore, many countries have started developing Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs); a few (including The Bahamas and Nigeria) have even implemented them. CBDCs are digital tokens issued by a central bank. They are similar to cryptocurrencies, but since they are issued and regulated by the nation’s monetary authority, they are much safer and more stable.
It is still too early to predict the impact of CBDCs on the global financial system. Nevertheless, CBDCs hold the promise of making payments faster, cheaper, and more inclusive.
More To Know
How much money does the world have? Is there an exact number?
No. Counting up the exact amount is next to impossible. There is no precise way to calculate the total money or value of assets on Earth. How can you quantify something that changes in value, not just in terms of currency rates but also in meaning? All we can do is make educated guesses.
How much money does the USA spend on citizens?
In 2022, the Federal government spent $6.48 trillion, which comes out to roughly $19,434 for each person in the country.
These expenditures were divided into multiple components, with the biggest chunks allocated to grants for state and local governments (averaging $3,707 per person) and Social Security (averaging at $3,657 per person).
Which currency has the highest value in the world?
The highest currency in the world is Kuwaiti Dinar (KWD), with one Kuwaiti Dinar equalling 3.25 United States Dollars. The first series of Kuwaiti dinar banknotes was introduced in 1960 and was initially equivalent to one pound sterling.
Read: 15 Highest Currencies In The World
What is the world’s total wealth?
The world is wealthier than ever. According to McKinsey’s report, global assets grew from $440 trillion (approximately 13 times GDP) in 2000 to $1,540 trillion in 2020, while net worth increased from $160 trillion to over $510 trillion.
This figure includes real estate prices, equity market prices, exchange rates, natural resources, human resources, as well as capital and technological advancements that may create new assets or render others worthless in the coming years.
As per the 2023 report, the asset price inflation over the last 20 years has generated $160 trillion in “paper wealth.” The economy didn’t grow very fast, and the gap between rich and poor got bigger. Also, for every $1 that was invested, we ended up owing $1.90 in debt.
Read More
- How Much Money Is Enough for a Fulfilling Life?
- How Much Gold Is There In The World?
- What Is Quantum Financial System? [A Simple Overview]
- H.6 Release, Money Stock Measures, Federal Reserve
- Paul Tostevin, The total value of global real estate, Savills
- Damakant Jayshi, Do 728 billionaires hold more wealth than half of American households?, Snopes
- Billionaires List, A record year for ten-figure wealth has left the billionaire class bigger and richer than ever, Forbes
- Khanyi Mlaba, The richest 1% own almost half the world’s wealth, Global Citizen
- FinTech, Digital payments market in Sweden, Statista
- Articles, How much money does the government spend per person?, USAFacts
- Lola Woetzel, The rise and rise of the global balance sheet, McKinsey & Company
- Jan Mischke, The future of wealth and growth hangs in the balance, McKinsey & Company
Amazing how much money is out there and I just realized how poor and messy my life is by knowing that I don’t have any cash on me. No bank account. No cryptocurrency or anything.
Get an exodus wallet and Ill give you some BTC, or w/e you want..
Really?
Is that only for samer T or cuz I could use some btc
If you have no bank account it is not necessarily a bad thing, your finances are not a mess when you consider the fact that the world itself is in 2.33 trillion dollars worth of debt lol you will be fine my friend
Samer, Money is only one form of currency!
This is why some of the richest people can often feel the poorest. When you can never have enough,, because greed can hijack and leave you feeling like you can never have enough,, or that the world is in competition all the time!!
Here are some other currencies that have value and society needs to be reminded:
Community, relationships, happiness, purpose, temperance( Opposite of gluttony’s), integrity, humility, Family and authenticity!
Since world stock market was about TR.$ 85 in Aug. 2020 and paper market ( paper wealth) are about TR.$ 945 to TR.$ 1200 so paper money are so huge that might be explorer next . On the other hand world wealth report 2019 said world wealth is about TR.$360 and world debt are Tr.$ 258 that are explained inequality has been more and more . These statics remind world needs to be change
people need to stop cutting down trees.
actually, trees are made from a special fabric material consisting of a blend of cotton and linen fiber. they do this mainly because it has to last years. but yes people do need to stop cutting down trees
Or just produce more CO2 , trees will grow faster this way.
out of the 1200 Trillion of in the form of investments, derivatives, and cryptocurrencies , only 0.16% are cryptocurrencies. And this is considering the record high crypto market cap from 2021 at 2 trillion USD.
the 1.3 quad trillion can not see where it’s coming from when everything seems to fall in the bracket just under 100 trillion. anyway, my life sucks. 32 no job no car no house no prospect. I should have finished my accounting and finance diploma. but anyway thank you for the article it was simple. simple is good — makes us understand better. Wish more articles were straight to the point and simple.
This is why Blockchain CBDCs were Invented !
We will always know how much money is on the Blockchain (based on the $USD)
Central Banks print money out of this air which can be forged easily and hidden
So were’s the crime ?? 😛
I need sooooo much money now please
Money is dirty paper. Worthless. Give me NFT’s and stable coins and things that can’t get dirty. That’s the secret.
Looks like those can get dirty too, try Grin or monero.
look bubbles!