Let's imagine a funny thought. What if all the money that exists in the world right now was simply divided equally among all the people on the planet? A farmer from Wisconsin, a potter in Delhi, a herdsman in Namibia, and a dentist in Sydney would all receive the same amount. It sounds like utopia, but it's interesting to think about how much each person would get?

It turns out that if we take the monetary aggregate M2 (which includes all money in circulation plus liquid bank deposits), according to 2024 data, the global money supply was approximately $123 trillion. That’s how much money there is in the world if we only consider this category. With a world population of about 8.16 billion people, each would get roughly $15,000. Not as much as it might seem.

For clarity — this is roughly the cost of a used car or, as economists joke, enough for a new Dacia Sandero. Two years of an average family budget. You won't get rich, but you won't go hungry either.

Interestingly, the money supply is not the same as global wealth. When people talk about how much money there is in the world, they often confuse cash and liquid assets with assets, real estate, and investments. According to UBS, global private wealth in 2024 was nearly $488 trillion — almost four times more. That’s because most of the wealth is frozen in assets that can’t simply be exchanged for cash.

If we take Spain separately and do the same experiment, the picture looks better. There, the M2 money supply at the end of 2024 was about $1.65 trillion, and the population is roughly 49 million people. Each Spaniard would get about $33,500. Almost twice the global average. It’s interesting to see how money is distributed very unevenly across regions.

In general, if you’ve ever wondered how much money in the world actually exists in liquid form — here’s your answer. Not as much as it seems. And it’s distributed extremely unevenly.