Mercer Island, a rich enclave simply outdoors Seattle.
Danita Delimont | Gallo Photographs Roots Rf Assortment | Getty Photographs
A model of this text first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth publication with Robert Frank, a weekly information to the high-net-worth investor and client. Sign up to obtain future editions, straight to your inbox.
America is dwelling to essentially the most millionaires of any nation, with a tally of 23.8 million in 2024, in keeping with a brand new report by UBS. The Swiss financial institution estimated the U.S. minted some 379,000 new millionaires final yr, or greater than a thousand every day, for a rise of 1.5%.
Mainland China got here in second at 6.3 million, up 2.3%, with 141,000 new millionaires. By share, Turkey’s millionaire inhabitants elevated essentially the most with an 8.4% bump to 87,000.
America prolonged its lead because of a banner yr for Wall Avenue in addition to a steady U.S. dollar. The primary six months of 2025, nevertheless, have been rocky. President Donald Trump‘s commerce warfare and recession fears have roiled markets and weighed on the dollar, which is down about 9% this yr.
UBS economist James Mazeau instructed CNBC it is too early to say whether or not U.S. family wealth will develop at a slower charge this yr. A weaker greenback spurs wealth progress in international locations with non-dollar currencies moderately than stalling it within the U.S., in keeping with Mazeau. However he additionally stated American actual property has been resilient and that U.S. equities might finish the yr barely larger than the place they’re now.
“This yr could possibly be decrease than final yr, nevertheless it does not imply we’ll have a reversal in fortune and see unfavorable wealth creation,” he stated. “I do not suppose the engines of progress are lifeless in the USA — removed from it.”
Whereas almost 40% of the world’s millionaires are based mostly within the U.S., Luxembourg and Switzerland have larger concentrations of wealth. In each international locations, multiple in seven adults are value at the least $1 million, in keeping with UBS.
The worldwide millionaire inhabitants rose by greater than 684,000 to some 60 million, due largely to growing actual property values. Nonetheless, this progress was disparate geographically, with some international locations dropping share. Japan, as an illustration, misplaced 33,000 millionaires with its shrinking inhabitants.
The billionaire rely elevated modestly to 2,891, however Mazeau famous that there was excessive turnover. Billionaires misplaced wealth in 15 of 56 markets in UBS’s pattern, with the sharpest declines within the Netherlands and Uruguay. Singapore, Qatar, Greece and Poland recorded the very best good points.
“There will be nice reversals of fortune even inside that phase,” he stated.
Even among the many world’s richest individuals, the wealth is concentrated towards the highest.
UBS estimates some 60 million people maintain $226.47 trillion mixed, almost half of the world’s world wealth. Inside that group are 2,860 billionaires who symbolize $15.7 trillion in property. And on the very prime, 15 centibillionaires, lower than 1% of the group, boast a mixed internet value of $2.4 trillion.
“We do see that there’s wealth focus or, I might say, wealth inequality, even amongst billionaires,” Mazeau stated. He attributed a lot of the focus to the outperformance of the tech sector and the rise of “mega tech entrepreneurs.”
There’s not a lot knowledge on people within the $50 million to $1 billion vary, which distorts the image, in keeping with Mazeau. He additionally stated the wealth progress amongst center and decrease wealth brackets is underappreciated. For example, the variety of people with $1 million to $5 million, whom UBS dubs “on a regular basis millionaires,” has greater than quadrupled since 2000 to about 52 million.
“They’ve extra wealth collectively than all of the billionaires on the planet,” he stated. “It’s usually neglected how a lot wealth is rising and goes in the direction of the center of the pack.”