Wealth consultancies publish a count of the number of ultra high networth individuals each year, and the headline is usually that the group keeps growing. This guide looks at the count by region, and explains why the totals vary between reports.
Number of ultra high networth individuals: the definition
An ultra high net worth individual, often shortened to UHNWI, is generally defined as someone with at least 30 million dollars in net assets, not counting a primary residence. Firms such as Knight Frank, Altrata and Capgemini use that or similar cutoffs, but they apply them with different methods.
The global total
Reports published in recent years have put the worldwide number of people in this group in the hundreds of thousands, with annual growth in most years, interrupted by dips when markets fell, such as in 2022. Since different firms report slightly different totals, I would say “roughly six hundred thousand or so” for the early 2020s as a general order of magnitude, and advise checking the latest report for a precise figure.
Where they live
North America
The United States accounts for the largest share, usually a third or more of the global total. Canada has a much smaller number.
Europe
Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland and Italy have the biggest numbers, with London and Zurich as major centres for the wealthy.
Asia
China has the second-largest number of ultra-wealthy people, with strong growth over two decades. Japan, India, Hong Kong and Singapore also have large or fast-growing groups, with India often named as one of the quickest-growing markets.
The Middle East
The Gulf states, particularly the United Arab Emirates, have attracted wealthy residents in recent years, helped by lower taxes and favourable residency rules.
What drives growth
Three things usually drive the numbers up: rising stock markets, strong private company valuations, and the growth of new industries such as technology. Currency moves matter too, since reports are measured in US dollars. When a local currency weakens, the number of people above the threshold in dollar terms falls.
Why different reports disagree
Each firm has its own data sources, assumptions and ways of dealing with people who hold assets through trusts or companies. Some count only liquid wealth, others include business ownership. As a result, you can find two credible reports for the same year that differ by tens of thousands.
Migration of the wealthy
Reports from firms such as Henley and Partners have tracked where millionaires move each year, and they have often named countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Italy and Singapore as top destinations in recent years. Such estimates are rough, since there is no official register of where wealthy people live.
Questions readers ask
Is a billionaire an ultra high net worth individual?
Yes, but billionaires are a small subset of the group.
Do these reports include inherited wealth?
Yes, they count all net assets regardless of how they were gained.
Why do firms publish these counts?
They are used to market services to wealthy clients, and to advise banks and governments on trends.
Why this group matters to ordinary readers
It is easy to think that the number of very wealthy people has no effect on you, but it influences housing prices in popular cities, the market for luxury goods and the tax policies that governments discuss. It also shapes the business plans of banks, law firms and real estate agents, who compete for these clients. For students and journalists, the counts are a useful measure of how wealth is distributed across countries and how it moves when economies change. They are not a measure of the number of people who are comfortable or secure, which is a far bigger group, and so they should be read as one lens among several.
Where to find the original reports
Knight Frank publishes its Wealth Report each year, Altrata publishes its billionaire and UHNWI censuses and Capgemini publishes the World Wealth Report. Each is free to read and explains how the numbers were produced.
A final caution
Treat each report as an estimate with a margin of error. The direction of travel and the regional pattern are usually more reliable than the exact totals, so quote the trend and name the source.
*General information, not financial advice. Counts are estimates and change annually.*
More like this: browse our Net Worth section. For background, see the Wikipedia entry.
