The net worth of each Canadian grew to $135,000 at the end of June, up from $133,300 at the end of March, according to Statistics Canada, which can put a number on just about anything. However, the average household debt is increasing faster than incomes, it said.

Total national net wealth was $4.353 trillion at the end of June, up from $4.286 trillion at the end of March, the agency calculates. Most of the increase can be attributed to the rise in residential property values, it said.

The ratio of government debt to gross domestic product, was at a 20-year low of roughly 50 per cent.
However, the agency pointed out that average household debt is rising. The debt-to-income ratio was 107.8% in the second quarter, up from 107.1% in the first quarter, Statscan said. The ratio of household debt to net worth edged up to 18.1% in the quarter.

In the second quarter, Canadian households carried about $1.08 in debt for every dollar of their disposable income, Statscan said. National net worth, meantime, rose to $4.4-trillion by the end of the quarter, or $135,000 per capita. In the second quarter of last year, our net worth was $130,500 on a per capita basis.

“Households’ appetite for debt grew with demand for consumer credit and mortgage funds up from the previous quarter,” Statistics Canada said in a relase. “Supported by sustained low interest rates, the growth in total household debt continued to outpace that of personal disposable income.”

The report comes as the personal savings rate fell to minus 0.5% in the second quarter, the lowest level since the 1920s, a development that one CIBC World Markets economist said this week is leaving Canadians vulnerable to economic shocks.