Mercer Island, a wealthy enclave just outside Seattle.
Danita Delimont | Gallo Images Roots Rf Collection | Getty Images
A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
The United States is home to the most millionaires of any country, with a tally of 23.8 million in 2024, according to a new report by UBS. The Swiss bank estimated the U.S. minted some 379,000 new millionaires last year, or more than a thousand each day, for an increase of 1.5%.
Mainland China came in second at 6.3 million, up 2.3%, with 141,000 new millionaires. By percentage, Turkey’s millionaire population increased the most with an 8.4% bump to 87,000.
America extended its lead thanks to a banner year for Wall Street as well as a stable U.S. dollar. The first six months of 2025, however, have been rocky. President Donald Trump’s trade war and recession fears have roiled markets and weighed on the dollar, which is down about 9% this year.
UBS economist James Mazeau told CNBC it’s too early to say whether U.S. household wealth will grow at a slower rate this year. A weaker dollar spurs wealth growth in countries with non-dollar currencies rather than stalling it in the U.S., according to Mazeau. But he also said American real estate has been resilient and that U.S. equities could end the year slightly higher than where they are now.
“This year could be lower than last year, but it doesn’t mean we’ll have a reversal in fortune and see negative wealth creation,” he said. “I don’t think the engines of growth are dead in the United States — far from it.”
While nearly 40% of the world’s millionaires are based in the U.S., Luxembourg and Switzerland have higher concentrations of wealth. In both countries, more than one in seven adults are worth at least $1 million, according to UBS.
The worldwide millionaire population rose by more than 684,000 to some 60 million, due in large part to increasing real estate values. However, this growth was disparate geographically, with some countries losing share. Japan, for instance, lost 33,000 millionaires with its shrinking population.
The billionaire count increased modestly to 2,891, but Mazeau noted that there was high turnover. Billionaires lost wealth in 15 of 56 markets in UBS’s sample, with the sharpest declines in the Netherlands and Uruguay. Singapore, Qatar, Greece and Poland recorded the highest gains.
“There can be great reversals of fortune even within that segment,” he said.
Even among the world’s richest people, the wealth is concentrated toward the top.
UBS estimates some 60 million individuals hold $226.47 trillion combined, nearly half of the world’s global wealth. Within that group are 2,860 billionaires who represent $15.7 trillion in assets. And at the very top, 15 centibillionaires, less than 1% of the group, boast a combined net worth of $2.4 trillion.
“We do see that there is wealth concentration or, I would say, wealth inequality, even amongst billionaires,” Mazeau said. He attributed most of the concentration to the outperformance of the tech sector and the rise of “mega tech entrepreneurs.”
There is not much data on individuals in the $50 million to $1 billion range, which distorts the picture, according to Mazeau. He also said the wealth growth among middle and lower wealth brackets is underappreciated. For instance, the number of individuals with $1 million to $5 million, whom UBS dubs “everyday millionaires,” has more than quadrupled since 2000 to about 52 million.
“They have more wealth collectively than all the billionaires in the world,” he said. “It is often overlooked how much wealth is rising and is going towards the middle of the pack.”
