We've talked a lot in recent weeks about how well the UK stock market has done this year. However, in global terms, it came near the bottom of the table.
Excluding dividends, the UK market is up about 16%. That puts us ahead of the Yanks, who managed a miserly 14% gain in pound terms. But most of the major global stock markets did better. France (23%), Germany (46%), Japan (22%) and Hong Kong (22%) all outperformed the UK.
Once again, the best performers were to be found among the emerging markets. Turkey had a good year, despite the country's recent troubles, rising 72%. Russia also did well, despite a wobble following the arrest of the country's richest man, Mikhail Khodorkovsky. It recorded a 45% gain.
The two great emerging superpowers, India and China, had a mixed year. While India rocketed 60%, China only recorded a tiny 2% gain. Nevertheless, expect both Chinese and Indian investment funds to be a growing feature over the next decade.
South America was a good place to be. Three markets there returned gains of over 100%. Argentina, a big loser last year, was up 102% and Brazil improved 114%. However, Venezuela beat them both with a 119% increase.
The best region was Eastern Europe however. Latvia produced the second best gain of the year, jumping 133%. But the overall winner was Bulgaria, notching an impressive leap of 169%.
Very few markets fell this year. Costa Rica and Ecuador both fell 16% but the worst result by far was Zimbabwe. Its Industrials index fell by three-quarters in pound terms more than wiping out last year's gains when it topped the table of international performers. Although investing in emerging markets can be profitable but it is not for the faint hearted!
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