Nearly 22 million people in the U.S.—roughly one in 15 Americans—had wealth upwards of $1 million last year, according to UBS’ 2024 global wealth report.
While that’s down from 22.7 million in 2022, the U.S. was still home to 38% of all millionaires in the world.
It also means the number of U.S. millionaires is more than three times the number in mainland China, which has the second-highest population of millionaires, and is on par with Western Europe and China put together.
The global population of millionaires dipped to 58 million in 2023 from 59.4 million in 2022. But global wealth increased 4.2%, a rebound from the prior year, which marked the first drop in wealth since the 2008 financial crisis.
Amid high interest rates and inflation that hampered economic growth, global wealth dropped 3% in 2022, and 3.5 million people fell out of millionaire status.
“The dip we saw in global wealth in 2022 appears to have been just a blip,” the latest UBS report said. “Wealth’s already bounced back–in line with the long-term trend we’ve identified.
The coming years are anticipated to see further gains. By 2028, UBS expects the number of millionaires to grow in 52 of the 56 markets sampled in the report. Taiwan was expected to lead the world in growth (47%), largely thanks to its microchip industry, which will play an important role in artificial intelligence in the coming years.
In the U.S., the millionaire population is expected to grow more moderately—16% to 25.4 million by 2028. But a gain that large would be more than enough to stretch the gap between the U.S. and the rest of the world.
In China, the number of people with wealth over $1 million is expected to grow 8% to 6.5 million by 2028, while Japan is expected to surpass its neighbor by then to take the second spot on the list.
The UK, which currently ranks third on the global millionaires list, is actually predicted to see that population plummet by 17% in the next four years, in large part due to recent changes in its tax policy for non-domiciled residents. The recent Labour party victory is also expected to bring a higher capital gains tax.
“As most asset classes have seen their value rise over the past few years, the sheer effect of steady economic growth is instrumental in the increase in USD millionaires,” UBS said. “This applies to the past as much as it does to projections into the future.”
As a note, banks will always home equity when calculating net worth, not just liquid investments. The percent of people who could theoretically spend $1M today without going into debt is lower.
These stats mean nothing in terms of an individual being particularly wealthy, as they represent the ridiculous inflation of housing prices rather than meaningfully increased buying power. It actually represents the opposite trend, which is that housing is now much more expensive for everyone except those who already have a house. Everyone is now effectively poorer, as everyone needs housing. If the older house owner "millionaires" sold their houses, they would still need housing at these inflated prices. They would need to buy again at the same prices or start renting, subsidizing someone else's purchase of housing at these prices plus a little extra for the landleeches.
So really, the only ways this wealth can actually mean something for these homeowners is if they use it for end-of-life care (very common and also at massively inflated prices) or leave the country to buy a much cheaper place overseas.