The number of adults with a net worth of one million dollars or more is projected to increase in 52 of the 56 developed and developing economies.
The number of millionaires globally will continue to rise over the next five years, with the exception of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, according to UBS’s Global Wealth 2024 report. This document projects an increase in adults with a net worth of one million dollars or more in 52 of the 56 developed and developing economies.
Among the countries with the highest growth in millionaires are Taiwan, with a 47% increase, driven by the microchip industry and the influx of wealthy foreign immigrants. In the words of Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS Global Wealth Management, “countries like France and Italy are seeing more ‘natural’ growth,” with projected increases of 16% and 9%, respectively.
The United States and China, the two regions with the most millionaires globally, will also see increases, although smaller, of 16% and 8%, respectively. In contrast, the United Kingdom will experience a 17% decrease in the number of millionaires, the steepest decline among the economies surveyed.
Factors explaining this decline in the United Kingdom include sanctions against Russia, which have affected the influx of wealthy Russians to London, as well as the search for lower-tax locations by non-native millionaires, such as Dubai and Singapore. “There are both push and pull factors,” Donovan explained to CNBC.
“The United Kingdom currently has the third largest number of dollar millionaires in the world,” Donovan noted, adding that this is “much more than it deserves to have as an economy.” Changes in the non-domiciled tax regime in this nation have also had a “small, not substantial” impact, according to Donovan, who disconnected the projected decline from the arrival of the center-left Labour Party to power.
The report also highlighted a 21% increase in the number of millionaires in Russia, influenced in part by currency fluctuations and recent trends in commodity and energy markets. Additionally, countries such as Turkey, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, and Japan also show significant growth projections, with increases of 43%, 37%, 32%, and 28%, respectively.
The UBS report shows that global wealth growth recovered in 2023, with a 4.2% increase after a 3% decline in 2022. This recovery was led mainly by the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), which grew by 4.8%, compared to 4.4% in Asia-Pacific and 3.5% in the Americas.
According to UBS, wealth mobility will improve between 2000 and 2030, suggesting that a person in the lowest wealth category will have a 60% chance of moving up at least one wealth level and a one in three chance of moving up two or more levels.
However, this growth has also led to greater inequality. The concentration of wealth at the upper levels is distorting average figures, and while average wealth is increasing, median wealth is falling in many countries, suggesting greater inequality.
This is particularly evident in countries like France and Mexico, where average wealth is double the median, and in the United States, Brazil, and the United Arab Emirates, where this ratio is five to one.
Finally, the Netherlands will also see a 4% decrease in its number of millionaires. This scenario reinforces the trend of variation in wealth distribution worldwide, influenced by macroeconomic factors and specific political decisions.