Scientists have recently calculated the global volume of the money supply, and the numbers they obtained are truly astounding. According to an article published in January 2024, the senior teacher of the University of Lancaster, Renault Fukar, revealed that there is approximately 6.113 billion pounds sterling in cash circulating worldwide.
Breaking it down further, in the UK alone, around 96.5 billion pounds are currently in cash circulation as of September 2024. In the USA, this figure rises to $5.588 trillion, in the European Union it stands at 4.792 trillion euros, and in China, an impressive 12.183 trillion yuan is in circulation.
However, cash represents only a fraction of the total money supply globally. In the UK, for instance, approximately 96% of all money exists in electronic form. Taking bank accounts into consideration, the total amount increases to 2.199 trillion pounds in the country.
A similar scenario is seen in other developed nations. The United States has a total money supply, including electronic funds (M1), amounting to 18.151 trillion dollars, while in the European Union, it is around 10.398 trillion euros.
When converting all currencies into a unified system for global calculation, the total amount of money – combining both cash and electronic funds in bank accounts – reaches approximately 46.557 trillion pounds (roughly 5.97 quadrillion rubles).
An interesting discovery arose when examining the financial habits of the super-rich. For instance, back in 2019, Elon Musk, whose fortune was valued at $22.3 billion, admitted in court that he actually held a relatively small amount of cash. The majority of billionaires’ wealth is invested in assets and business ventures.
Economists acknowledge the challenges of attempting to calculate the world’s entire finances. Fluctuating currency exchange rates, the necessity to convert various monetary units into a singular calculation system, and the rapidly evolving financial landscape all pose obstacles to accurate quantification. Furthermore, the data collected is often outdated by the time of publication.
If we consider additional factors such as cryptocurrencies, gold reserves, and investments in financial instruments like derivatives alongside traditional money, the total amount of funds escalates into the quadrillions. For instance, the derivatives market alone ranges from 544 trillion to 1.2 quadrillion dollars.
For perspective, the total value of all global stock markets combined amounts to only $73 trillion, a significantly lower figure compared to the vast sum present in derivatives alone.