Reaching the status of “millionaire” used to be a big deal.
But with rising inflation, a higher cost of living in cities, and changing perceptions around wealth, the six zero milestone doesn’t mean as much anymore.
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Q2 hedge fund letters, conference, scoops etc
Heck, there are over 16 million millionaires globally, and 4.3 million in the United States alone. Therefore, to really get a sense of the makeup of the world’s ultra-wealthy population, we need a more exclusive and finely-tuned indicator.
The $50 million Benchmark
Today’s infographic comes to us from the Knight Frank Wealth Report 2018, which you should absolutely check out if global wealth is a topic of interest to you.
The visualization breaks down the world’s 129,730 people that have fortunes of US$50 million and above. It’s a much narrower measure, representing just the upper echelon (top 1%) of the world’s millionaire population.
The graphic sorts these ultra-wealthy people by country and region, but also breaks down the change in population between 2016 (Q4) and 2017 (Q4).
The Ultra-Wealthy by Region
Here’s the $50 million and above population sorted by region:
| Rank | Region | Ultra-wealthy pop (>$50mm) | 1-yr growth rate |
| Total | 129,730 | ||
| #1 | North America | 44,000 | +5% |
| #2 | Asia | 35,880 | +15% |
| #3 | Europe | 35,180 | +10% |
| #4 | Middle East | 4,740 | +3% |
| #5 | Latin America | 4,220 | +20% |
| #6 | Russia & CIS | 2,870 | +26% |
| #7 | Australasia | 1,650 | +9% |
| #8 | Africa | 1,190 | +7% |
North America still reigns supreme, but Asia is fast catching up and has already surpassed Europe in this measure of wealth. It’s worth noting that in the one-year span between 2016 (Q4) and 2017 (Q4), the ultra-wealthy population for Asia grew a solid 15%.
It’s also surprising to see that Latin America and Russia & CIS are experiencing such high rates of growth in their >$50 million populations, as well.
Top 10 Ultra-Wealthy Countries
By absolute population, here are the top 10 countries for the ultra-wealthy, based on the above data:
| Rank | Country | Ultra-wealthy pop (>$50mm) | % of global total |
| #1 | United States | 38,500 | 29.7% |
| #2 | Japan | 9,960 | 7.7% |
| #3 | Mainland China | 8,800 | 6.8% |
| #4 | Germany | 8,070 | 6.2% |
| #5 | Canada | 5,500 | 4.2% |
| #6 | France | 5,240 | 4.0% |
| #7 | Hong Kong, China | 5,140 | 4.0% |
| #8 | United Kingdom | 4,580 | 3.5% |
| #9 | Switzerland | 3,710 | 2.9% |
| #10 | Italy | 3,150 | 2.4% |
The U.S. holds about 30% of the world’s ultra-wealthy population, while China adds up to nearly 11% when including both Mainland China and Hong Kong in the calculations.
Switzerland (8.4 million people) punches above its weight class, hitting the #9 spot globally, while Canada takes the #5 spot despite having fewer people (36 million) than the majority of the countries on the list.
Article by Visual Capitalist
