Mitt Romney isn’t alone. The world’s wealthiest citizens have socked away a mind-blowing amount of money in offshore tax havens: Likely around $21 trillion, but as much as $32 trillion. That’s according to a new report from the Tax Justice Network, a British think tank. To put that in perspective, the combined gross domestic products of the United States and Japan are around $21 trillion.
This gargantuan stash of money belongs to fewer than 10 million people, and $9.8 trillion of it belongs to just 100,000 people, the Tax Justice Network estimates. Here are the countries that are losing the most money to offshore tax havens:*
While offshore tax havens have an image of being operated by shady banks in tropical backwaters, the report found that the majority of the $21 trillion was actually managed by well-known private banks. The three largest tax haven players are UBS, Credit Suisse, and Goldman Sachs. For more on the Tax Justice Network’s findings, you can read their full report (PDF).
Correction: The original version of this article stated that the countries in the chart were the top offshore destinations for tax dodgers. In reality, they are the top sources of money sent to offshore accounts in places like the Cayman Islands.
