Sovereign wealth funds - statistics & facts

Both the number of, and the value of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) grew steadily during the last decades. A total of 55 new sovereign wealth funds were established worldwide during the ten years from 2010 to 2019. That is 11 more wealth funds than the decade before that, and a higher number than the total of all new established sovereign wealth funds during the years prior to 2000. Europe saw the largest growth of sovereign wealth fund assets under management since 2008, while Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa are the largest regions when it comes to assets under management of sovereign wealth funds.

What is a sovereign wealth fund?

SWFs are state-owned investment funds, commonly (but not always) funded by budget surplus generated from the country’s natural resources or foreign currency reserves. The funds are aimed to work as stabilizers or security for the national economy. There are different types of sovereign wealth funds: stabilization funds, savings funds, and strategic funds, all with different objectives. Stabilization funds, mostly allocated into fixed income and treasury assets, are counter-cyclical tools useful to insulate the economy from sudden internal and external shocks. Savings funds, or generation funds as they are sometimes called, are aimed to hedge against the cost of an increasingly elderly population. The assets of sovereign savings funds worldwide are mainly allocated to public equities. Strategic funds, also known as development funds, are aimed to foster socio-economic development while investing in domestic sectors. Most of the assets of strategic funds are in public and private equities.

Which country has the largest sovereign wealth fund?

Despite being only the third largest region in terms of assets under management, Europe, and more specifically Norway, holds the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world: Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM). The fund, also known as Norway’s Oil Fund, was founded in 1990, soon after Norway discovered their oil and experienced rapid economic growth. Since its establishment the fund grew markedly and today the NBIM has market value of around 1.36 trillion U.S. dollars, with most of the assets in equities. Although Norway has the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world, China is the country with the highest value of assets under management of sovereign wealth funds. The reason behind this is that China has two of the four largest sovereign wealth funds in the world: the second largest, China Investment Corporation (CIC), and the fourth largest, State Administration of Foreign Exchanges.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Statista Research Department, Jun 7, 2022

Key insights

Largest sovereign wealth fund worldwide
China Investment Corporation
Assets under management of sovereign wealth funds worldwide
11.3tr USD
Largest share of assets of sovereign wealth funds worldwide
Fixed income
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