Apple’s first physical retail store is located in the densely populated city of Mumbai.
Punit Paranjape AFP | getty images
Dimensional’s Matrix Book is an annual review of global returns that highlights the power of compound investing. This is a fascinating document: You can see the compound growth rate of the S&P 500 for every year since 1926.
Hidden on page 74 is a chapter on “World Equity Market Capitalization”, which lists the market capitalizations of most of the world’s countries, country-by-country. No surprise, the US is the global leader in stock market value. The US stock market’s $40 trillion assets account for about 60% of the value of all equities in the world.
Global market capitalization by country
(in trillions, with % of global share)
- US$40 trillion (59%)
- Japan $4.1t (6%)
- United Kingdom $2.6t (4%)
- China $2.5t (4%)
- Canada $2.1t (3%)
- France $1.8t (3%)
- Switzerland $1.6t (2%)
- India $1.4t (2%)
- Australia $1.4t (2%)
- Germany $1.3t (2%)
Source: Dimensional Funds, 2023 Matrix Book
This is where the fun is found. My friend Ben Carlson pointed out this week that Apple’s current market capitalization is about $2.7 trillion, which is more than the entire market capitalization of the United Kingdom, which is the world’s third-largest stock market.
apple vs the world
(Market capitalization)
- Apple: $2.7 trillion
- UK: $2.6t (595 companies)
- France: $1.8t (235 companies)
- India: $1.4t (1,242 companies)
- Germany: $1.3t (255 companies)
Source: Dimensional Funds, 2023 Matrix Book
Apple is not only bigger than all 595 companies listed in the United Kingdom, but it is also bigger than all the companies in France (235 companies) and India (1,242 companies).
With 255 companies, Apple is twice the size of Germany’s entire stock market.
To some extent, this reflects the extreme values that are being placed on companies that are: 1) successful, and 2) growth-oriented.
Trends toward technology and development can influence the character of a country’s market.
For example, Germany is by far the largest country in Europe by GDP, yet its market share is smaller than that of the UK, France and Italy. To some extent this reflects the fact that there are fewer companies listed than in the UK, but also because Germany has more value-oriented companies. As a result, its market multiple – the price investors pay for one dollar or one euro of profits – is significantly lower than in the US.
Regardless: Apple is bigger than the entire UK stock market? Twice as big as the whole of Germany? That’s amazing.
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