Americans beware, our neighbors to the north are slowly becoming wealthier than we are on average. For the previous five years, American households have been exceeded by the average net worth of Canadian households. By more than $40,000 on average, Canadians are wealthier than Americans for the first time in history. The average net worth of a Canadian household in 2011 was $363,202 compared to the U.S. average net worth of a household of $319,970. The data was released by Environics Analytics WealthScapes.
The figures account for the weakness of the economy in the United States at this time along with the strength of the Canadian dollar. The Canadian dollar is almost up to par with the U.S. dollar right now. The figures released ignore the public-sector debt, which is responsible for a higher segment of the GDP in the United States than in Canada. The unemployment rate fell in Canada to 7.2 percent while the unemployment rate in the United States has stayed at 8.2 percent recently.
Two of the main reasons as to why Canada has become economically stronger than the United States recently include the 2008 recession that hit the U.S. economy and housing market hard. House prices in the United States plummeted, leading real estate in Canada to hole more value than in the U.S.