## Gimme Shelter

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Gimme Shelter](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2019/09/offshore-tax-havens-and-inequality-picture)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/en/publications/fandd/issues/2019/09/offshore-tax-havens-and-inequality-picture/index.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/en/publications/fandd/issues/2019/09/offshore-tax-havens-and-inequality-picture/index.json)
- [Bundle manifest](/en/publications/fandd/issues/2019/09/offshore-tax-havens-and-inequality-picture/bundle-manifest.json)

## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Lijun Li, CHRIS WELLISZ
- Published: September 1, 2019

---

### The amount of wealth held offshore
- Estimated total offshore wealth at about 10 percent of world GDP in 2007, or $5.6 trillion.
- About half was kept in Switzerland, the world’s premier offshore banking center since the 1920s.
- The figures for offshore wealth relative to GDP vary dramatically by country, ranging up to 60 percent in Russia, the Gulf states, and Latin America.
- Connections observed between offshore wealth and: the presence of natural resources, a history of political instability, and proximity to Switzerland.

### Data sources and evidence
- Swiss central bank publishes country-by-country breakdowns of offshore wealth in the nation’s banks.
- In 2016, the Bank for International Settlements started to release data on the origin of bank deposits held in offshore banking centers like Jersey and Luxembourg, enabling origin-country estimates (for example, how much money residents of Germany held in accounts in Hong Kong SAR).
- A leak of confidential records from the Swiss subsidiary of HSBC in 2007 provided additional evidence on ownership distribution of offshore wealth.

### Key findings on distribution and inequality
- Other data suggest the distribution of offshore wealth is heavily skewed toward the rich: about 80 percent belongs to the top 0.1 percent of households.
- Conclusion drawn: accounting for offshore assets substantially boosts the wealth share of the very richest people; in short, inequality may be far greater than other studies have found.

### Implications
- Unless hidden riches are accounted for, it is difficult to know how wide disparities in wealth really are.
- Improved country-by-country and origin-of-deposit data make it possible to better estimate who owns offshore wealth and to revise inequality measures accordingly.

*Source: Gimme Shelter (F&D Magazine) — Counting wealth in offshore tax havens boosts estimates of inequality*

---

## Content in this bundle

- **تأمل معي**
  - [تأمل معي (Markdown version)](/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2019/september/ar/picture.pdf.md){rel="alternate" type="text/markdown"}
  - [تأمل معي (PDF)](/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2019/september/ar/picture.pdf){rel="external" type="application/pdf"}
- **Dame refugio ● Finanzas y Desarrollo ● Septiembre de 2019**
  - [Dame refugio ● Finanzas y Desarrollo ● Septiembre de 2019 (Markdown version)](/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2019/september/es/offshore-tax-havens-and-inequality-picture.pdf.md){rel="alternate" type="text/markdown"}
  - [Dame refugio ● Finanzas y Desarrollo ● Septiembre de 2019 (PDF)](/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2019/september/es/offshore-tax-havens-and-inequality-picture.pdf){rel="external" type="application/pdf"}
- **La bonne planque**
  - [La bonne planque (Markdown version)](/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2019/september/fr/offshore-tax-havens-and-inequality-picture.pdf.md){rel="alternate" type="text/markdown"}
  - [La bonne planque (PDF)](/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2019/september/fr/offshore-tax-havens-and-inequality-picture.pdf){rel="external" type="application/pdf"}
- **Who Owns the Wealth in Tax Havens? – IMF F&D**
  - [Who Owns the Wealth in Tax Havens? – IMF F&D (Markdown version)](/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2019/september/offshore-tax-havens-and-inequality-picture.pdf.md){rel="alternate" type="text/markdown"}
  - [Who Owns the Wealth in Tax Havens? – IMF F&D (PDF)](/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2019/september/offshore-tax-havens-and-inequality-picture.pdf){rel="external" type="application/pdf"}
- **Представьте себе. Дай мне убежище – Финансы и развитие – сентябрь 2019 года**
  - [Представьте себе. Дай мне убежище – Финансы и развитие – сентябрь 2019 года (Markdown version)](/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2019/september/ru/offshore-tax-havens-and-inequality-picture.pdf.md){rel="alternate" type="text/markdown"}
  - [Представьте себе. Дай мне убежище – Финансы и развитие – сентябрь 2019 года (PDF)](/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2019/september/ru/offshore-tax-havens-and-inequality-picture.pdf){rel="external" type="application/pdf"}
- **给我庇护 - 图表释义- 《金融与发展》2019年9月号·第56卷·第3期 - 国际货币基金组织季刊**
  - [给我庇护 - 图表释义- 《金融与发展》2019年9月号·第56卷·第3期 - 国际货币基金组织季刊 (Markdown version)](/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2019/september/zh/offshore-tax-havens-and-inequality-picture.pdf.md){rel="alternate" type="text/markdown"}
  - [给我庇护 - 图表释义- 《金融与发展》2019年9月号·第56卷·第3期 - 国际货币基金组织季刊 (PDF)](/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2019/september/zh/offshore-tax-havens-and-inequality-picture.pdf){rel="external" type="application/pdf"}

---

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2019/09/offshore-tax-havens-and-inequality-picture_