This statistic presents the American states with highest ratio of millionaire households per capita in 2020. In that year, New Jersey had the highest ratio of millionaire households per capita in the country, with 9.76 percent of households holding over one million U.S. dollars in assets.
In 2023, by far the highest number of individuals with net assets of at least ** million U.S. dollars worldwide were residing in North America, reaching over ******* people. Asia recorded the second highest number of UHNWIs in the world with over ******* individuals.A small share owns vast sums of wealthThe vast majority of global wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few people. Only *** percent of the global population owns assets worth more than *** million U.S. dollars. The richest people in the world are Elon Mask, Jeff Bezos, and Bernard Arnault. When it comes to women, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers led the ranking of the most affluent women worldwide. The wealth of over ** percent of UHNWIs was self-made. Where UHNWIs live and where they leave Unsurprisingly, as North America is the world region with the highest number of UHNWIs, the United States is the country with the highest UHNWI count. However, Hong Kong, special administrative (SAR) region in China, is the city with the highest number of UHNWIs. Nevertheless, China was the country that recorded the highest outflux of UHNWIs in 2022.
According to the Hurun Global Rich List 2025, the United States housed the highest number of billionaires worldwide in 2025. In detail, there were *** billionaires living in the United States as of January that year. By comparison, *** billionaires resided in China. India, the United Kingdom, and Germany were also the homes of a significant number of billionaires that year. United States has regained its first place As the founder and exporter of consumer capitalism, it is no surprise that the United States is home to a large number of billionaires. Although China had briefly overtaken the U.S. in recent years, the United States has reclaimed its position as the country with the most billionaires in the world. Moreover, North America leads the way in terms of the highest number of ultra high net worth individuals – those with a net worth of more than ***** million U.S. dollars. The prominence of Europe and North America is a reflection of the higher degree of economic development in those states. However, this may also change as China and other emerging economies continue developing. Female billionaires Moreover, the small proportion of female billionaires does little to counter critics claiming the global economy is dominated by an elite comprised mainly of men. On the list of the 20 richest people in the world, only one was a woman. Moreover, recent political discourse has put a great amount of attention on the wealth held by the super-rich with the wealth distribution of the global population being heavily unequal.
In 2016, there were approximately **** thousand millionaires in Pakistan. The number of individuals owning one million U.S. dollars or more in Pakistan is expected to rise to **** thousand by 2026. HNWI forecast in Pakistan Individuals with investible assets of at least one million U.S. dollars in current exchange rate terms are considered high net worth. The number of high-net-worth individuals in Pakistan is expected to rise overall between 2022 and 2028, settling at just under ***** thousand individuals. Countries with the highest millionaire rate In 2021, Switzerland had the highest rate of millionaires in the world, with **** percent of the adult population owning assets worth more than one million U.S. dollars. Luxembourg came in second, with **** percent of the population being millionaires, and Iceland came in third. Furthermore, over ** million people in the United States were among the world's top one percent of ultra-high net-worth individuals in 2021. China came second, with over **** million top one percent wealth holders worldwide.
The largest share of assets held by high net worth individuals (HNWIs) in North America in 2024 was cash and cash equivalents, which accounted for ** percent of the total assets held by HNWIs in the United States and Canada that year. North America is the region with both the highest assets of HNWIs, and with the highest number of HNWIs. Who is considered a HNWI? To be considered a HNWI, their financial assets must exceed at least *** million U.S. dollars. In addition to HNWIs, the term ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWIs) refer to individuals with financial assets of at least ** million U.S. dollars. The highest number of UHNWIs in the world are also found in North America, with more than ******* individuals. How many HNWIs are there in the U.S.? Most of the leading position of North America in terms of number and assets of HNWIs and UHNWIs is attributed to the United States. The number of UHNWIs in the United States reaches almost ******* individuals, which is almost **** times as many as in China, the country with the second highest number of UHNWIs.
In the first quarter of 2024, almost two-thirds percent of the total wealth in the United States was owned by the top 10 percent of earners. In comparison, the lowest 50 percent of earners only owned 2.5 percent of the total wealth. Income inequality in the U.S. Despite the idea that the United States is a country where hard work and pulling yourself up by your bootstraps will inevitably lead to success, this is often not the case. In 2023, 7.4 percent of U.S. households had an annual income under 15,000 U.S. dollars. With such a small percentage of people in the United States owning such a vast majority of the country’s wealth, the gap between the rich and poor in America remains stark. The top one percent The United States follows closely behind China as the country with the most billionaires in the world. Elon Musk alone held around 219 billion U.S. dollars in 2022. Over the past 50 years, the CEO-to-worker compensation ratio has exploded, causing the gap between rich and poor to grow, with some economists theorizing that this gap is the largest it has been since right before the Great Depression.
In 2023, there were around 748 billionaires in the United States. This was a slight increase from the previous year's total of 704, and a significant increase from the 66 billionaires in 1990.
As of November 2022, a combined value of **** trillion U.S. dollars was held by billionaires living in the United States. While U.S. billionaire wealth has seen a drop over the last year, it is still more than *** times the amount it was at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Iceland was the country with the highest rate of millionaires worldwide in 2022, with more than ***percent of the adult population owning assets worth more than one million U.S. dollars. Luxembourg followed behind with ** percent of the population being millionaires, with Switzerland in third.
As of April 2025, Elon Musk was estimated as the wealthiest person in the United States with a net worth of around 342 billion dollars. Richest people in the United States - additional information Every year since 1982, the American business magazine Forbes has been compiling lists of the 400 richest people in the United States, known as the “Forbes 400.” In addition to that, since 1987, the publication has also been compiling a ranking of the 500 richest people in the world (excluding royalty and dictators), as well as more specialized tops, such as “World's Most Powerful Women,” “America's Richest Families,” “Most Valuable Brands” or “30 Under 30,” which focuses on young entrepreneurs from various fields which have gained millions in the past year by the use of social media, technical innovations and generally new and fresh approaches to business.
In 2021, there were around about *** million high net worth individuals individuals in North America. High net worth individuals are those with financial assets worth at least *** ******* U.S. dollars.
In Europe, the variation in average amounts of financial wealth per adult varied considerably as of 2022, from approximately 449,000 U.S. dollars in Switzerland to roughly 1,200 U.S. dollars in Azerbaijan. In Europe, the overall average financial wealth per adult as of 2022 was 84,308 U.S. dollars. In terms of private wealth, Europe held the second highest value in the world, after North America.
What is financial wealth?
Financial wealth, also known as financial assets or liquid assets can include wealth that an individual has in the forms of cash, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and bank deposits. In addition to financial wealth, wealth can also be measured in other assets, called non-financial wealth. This includes physical assets, such as real estate, land, vehicles, jewelry, and art, just to name a few.
Where do most wealthy individuals live?
Individuals with a net worth over one million U.S. dollars are called high-net worth individuals (HNWI). The United States was the home country to the highest number of HNWIs in 2021. China followed, although their number of HNWIs did not even reach one third of the number in the United States. In Europe, Switzerland is the country with the highest average financial wealth per adult, but with its small population size, the number of HNWIs does not come near the numbers in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Italy – the European countries with the highest number of HNWIs. Considering Switzerland’s small population size, however, it is the country in the world with the highest proportion of millionaires.
The Gilded Age, taking place roughly from the 1870s until the outbreak of World War I (1914-1918), was a period of unprecedented rapid economic growth in the United States. The economy of the U.S. was dominated in many sectors by large industrial monopolies, such as Standard Oil, Carnegie Steel, and American Tobacco. The owner-managers of these firms came to be known as the 'robber barons', as they were seen as exploiting their companies' dominant market positions in order to enrich themselves. To this day, they remain some of the wealthiest people in American history - when the historical fortunes are adjusted to 2006 U.S. dollars, the current fortunes of today's richest U.S. residents such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are still less than those of Rockefeller and Carnegie. The Sherman Act, passed by congress in 1890, banned monopolies that put unreasonable restrictions on trade. Combined with the end of the first era of globalization, brought on by the events of World War I, this marked the end of the era of dominance by large monopolies in the United States.
In 2023, roughly 1.49 billion adults worldwide had a net worth of less than 10,000 U.S. dollars. By comparison, 58 million adults had a net worth of more than one million U.S. dollars in the same year. Wealth distribution The distribution of wealth is an indicator of economic inequality. The United Nations says that wealth includes the sum of natural, human, and physical assets. Wealth is not synonymous with income, however, because having a large income can be depleted if one has significant expenses. In 2023, nearly 1,700 billionaires had a total wealth between one to two billion U.S. dollars. Wealth worldwide China had the highest number of billionaires in 2023, with the United States following behind. That same year, New York had the most billionaires worldwide.
A multi-millionaire is defined as someone owning 10 million U.S. dollars or more. It was forecasted that there would be almost 18 thousand individuals in Australia defined as multi-millionaires by 2026. This is in line with the country’s growing economy over the years as well as the growing wealth inequality that was becoming a cause for concern in the island nation.
Distribution of the wealthy
As a rich country with plenty of natural resources and a high Human Development Index, Australia had always had a large number of high net-worth individuals or HNWIs. There were over ten thousand millionaires including a couple dozen of billionaires, with these figures expected to grow significantly over the next few years.
Income inequality
Despite the increase of wealth and economic growth, there was a concern at the level of poverty and homelessness due to the rising wealth inequality nationally. The number of homeless people living in Australia had only been increasing with more than a hundred thousand people currently without shelter. Furthermore, most of the wealth was being pushed from the country to the cities, affecting the livelihood of those living in the countryside or outback.
In 2019, half of ultra high net worth investors in the United States had their investable assets in the form of equities, while only six percent among this group of investors had their assets in alternative investments. As for the Mass Affluent investors, 25 percent held their assets in short-term investments.
South Africa was home to the highest number of millionaires in Africa as of 2023. The country had 37,400 high net worth individuals (HNWIs), corresponding to roughly one-third of the total number of millionaires on the continent. Second, in rank, Egypt counted 15,600 HNWIs. According to the source, approximately 135,000 HNWIs lived in Africa, each with one million U.S. dollars or more net assets, excluding government funds. The wealth value refers to assets such as cash, properties, and business interests held by individuals living in a country with fewer liabilities. The rich in Africa Compared to 2020, the number of African millionaires increased by nearly nine percent. This means that 11,000 people joined the group of individuals with minimum net assets of one million U.S. dollars. The number of centi- and multimillionaires has increased as well. In 2022, the Nigerian Aliko Dangote held the title of the wealthiest person in Africa. Founder and chairman of Dangote Cement, the largest cement producer in the whole African continent, the billionaire also owns salt and sugar manufacturing companies. His net worth is estimated at nearly 15 billion U.S. dollars. Trillions of U.S. dollars in riches Total private wealth in Africa amounted to 2.1 trillion U.S. dollars in 2021, a slight increase from 2020. That year, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic had led to job losses, drops in salaries, and the closure of many local businesses. Compared to other African countries, South Africa concentrated the largest private wealth. Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, and Kenya completed the leading wealth markets. The five nations accounted for over 50 percent of Africa’s total wealth in 2021.
The estimated per capita income across Sikkim was the highest among Indian states at around *** thousand Indian rupees in the financial year 2024. Meanwhile, it was the lowest in the northern state of Bihar at over ** thousand rupees. India’s youngest state, Telangana stood in the fifth place. The country's average per capita income that year was an estimated *** thousand rupees. What is per capita income? Per capita income is a measure of the average income earned per person in a given area in a certain period. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. If absolute numbers are noted, India’s per capita income doubled from the financial year 2015 to 2023. Wealth inequality However, as per economists, the increase in the per capita income of a country does not always reflect an increase in the income of the entire population. Wealth distribution in India remains highly skewed. The average income hides the disbursal and inequality in a society. Especially in a society like India where the top one percent owned over ** percent of the total wealth in 2022.
In 2024, North America had the highest number of high net worth individuals, with 8.45 million HNWIs living there. In Asia Pacific, there were also 7.59 billion HNWIs registered in 2024. High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) are people with wealth exceeding one million U.S. dollars.
In 2022, the majority of Indian adults had a wealth of 10,000 U.S. dollars or less. On the other hand, about *** percent were worth more than *********** dollars that year. India The Republic of India is one of the world’s largest and most economically powerful states. India gained independence from Great Britain on August 15, 1947, after having been under their power for 200 years. With a population of about *** billion people, it was the second most populous country in the world. Of that *** billion, about **** million lived in New Delhi, the capital. Wealth inequality India suffers from extreme income inequality. It is estimated that the top 10 percent of the population holds ** percent of the national wealth. Billionaire fortune has increase sporadically in the last years whereas minimum wages have remain stunted.
This statistic presents the American states with highest ratio of millionaire households per capita in 2020. In that year, New Jersey had the highest ratio of millionaire households per capita in the country, with 9.76 percent of households holding over one million U.S. dollars in assets.