Yahoo Finance Number of high net-worth individuals soars to an all-time high of 16.5m - collectively worth $63.5tn
The number of high-net-worth individuals – those whose assets are worth at least $1m (£750,000) excluding their primary residence – increased by 7.5pc last year, to a record global high of 16.5 million people.
Booming global stock markets has catapulted an extra 1.15 million people into the high-net-worth individual (HNWI) bracket, according to figures from Capgemini's 2017 World Wealth Report.
The report shows that while the number of wealthy individuals in the world is on the up, their personal wealth is also rocketing – by 8.2pc in 2016, compared to 4pc in 2015.
It means that the world’s wealthiest people collectively hold a $63.5 trillion fortune, and are on track to exceed $100 trillion by 2025, Capgemini said.
The majority of the wealth continues to come from North America, Europe and Asia, with each market growing its HNWI population by an average 7.5pc last year, and their wealth by around 8.2pc.
The United States continues to dominate with the number of millionaires in the country, while Japan, Germany and China also make the top five list. France surpassed the UK to take fifth place in the list of countries with the most HNWIs.
Russia and Brazil recorded double-digit increases in both their population of HNWIs and their wealth, following a significant decline in 2015.
The report also found that the number of rich people who tipped over the threshold to become ultra high-net-worth individuals – the uber-rich, with investable assets of more than $30m – rose by 8.3pc last year, more than double the increase in 2015.
As a result, there are now 157,200 people globally in the ultra-HNWI bracket.
According to a report earlier this year by market research group New World Wealth, Australia is the world’s most popular country for migrating millionaires, who are drawn down under by a successful healthcare system, high levels of safety and its proximity to emerging markets in Asia.
New World Wealth’s study found that very few millionaires had left the UK since the vote to leave the European Union last year, while there continues to be a flow of millionaires into Britain.
“Going forward, we expect HNWI migration into the UK to continue, despite Brexit,” it said. “In particular we expect large HNWI inflows from France, China, India, the Middle East and Africa into the UK.
"However, on the flip side, we do expect some UK HNWIs to move to Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US over the next 10 years.”
