Key Takeaways:
The number of people worth more than $30 million surged 14.4% last year to an all-time high, fueled by the artificial-intelligence trade and resilient corporate earnings.
The global ultra high net worth population reached 556,850 individuals by the end of 2025, the fastest annual expansion since 2017, according to the World Ultra Wealth Report 2026 from wealth-intelligence firm Altrata. Their combined net worth climbed to $63.8 trillion, more than double the annual gross domestic product of the United States.
"What we've been seeing in the past decade is, on the whole, it's been going up over time and it's been growing quickly," said Maya Imberg, senior director at Altrata, referring to the number of ultrawealthy people. Lower inflation, resilient corporate earnings and enthusiasm for AI investment also bolstered the count and the value of their holdings in 2025, she said.
Over the past two years alone, the ultrawealthy class expanded by almost 30%, adding more than 120,000 individuals. Looking back further, the population has grown by a cumulative 255% over the past two decades, outpacing the expansion of the global adult population by a factor of seven. The ultrawealthy make up just 0.01% of the global adult population yet hold 11% of all private wealth held by individuals, Altrata found.
Wealth concentration accelerates
The report underscores a widening gap between the very richest and everyone else. Those worth more than $30 million represent just 1.1% of the global millionaire population — defined as people with $1 million or more — but command 32% of that group's cumulative wealth. One of the fastest-growing subgroups has been centi-millionaires, or those worth more than $100 million, mainly from founding or investing in rapidly growing technology companies.
Separate research from the Paris-based World Inequality Lab found that the wealth of the richest billionaires grew at about 8.5% a year from 1995 to 2025, compared with about 3.4% a year for the bottom half of the global population. The researchers estimated that roughly 60,000 people — the top 0.001% wealthiest in the world — are each worth at least $254 million.
"The population that can fit in a football stadium own three times more wealth than half of humanity combined," said Ricardo Gómez-Carrera, lead author of that report, referring to the wealthiest 0.001% of the population.
Where the ultrawealthy live
The US remained home to more ultrawealthy individuals than the rest of the top 10 countries combined, accounting for 37% of the global total. China ranked second with about 10%, followed by Germany at roughly 5%. The New York metropolitan area continued to have the largest concentration of ultrawealthy residents, ahead of Hong Kong, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Asia recorded UHNW population growth of 15.8% in 2025 and is forecast to register the strongest expansion of the three major regions through 2030, with India, China and Southeast Asian economies such as the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia among the primary engines. Africa posted the strongest regional growth of any continent at 24%. Altrata forecasts the global ultrawealthy population will reach 746,570 individuals with combined wealth of $85 trillion by 2030.
The ultrawealthy class collectively holds an estimated $26 trillion in investable assets, equivalent to about 10% of the global investable asset stock. They account for $282 billion in annual luxury goods and services spending and $220 billion in donations to philanthropic organizations. Female representation stands at 12% globally but is forecast to reach 19% by 2040, while four-fifths of North America's ultrawealthy class are entirely self-made.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
