High net worth individuals 2026, by country

Number of high-net-worth individuals in selected countries in 2026

The United States has by far the most high net worth individuals in 2026, about 23.8 million people worth more than 1 million dollars, roughly 38 percent of the world total. China is a distant second on about 6 million, followed by France, Japan and Germany. The country map of dollar millionaires is one of the clearest pictures of where wealth sits in the world, and in 2026 it is dominated by a single country to a degree seen in almost no other economic statistic. On the UBS figures, the United States holds about 23.8 million dollar millionaires, China about 6 million, France about 2.9 million, Japan and Germany about 2.8 million each, the United Kingdom about 2.6 million and Canada about 2.1 million. No other measure of national wealth is quite so lopsided, and the American lead has if anything widened over the past decade as its stock markets have outrun the rest of the world.

The world had about 60 million dollar millionaires in 2026 on the UBS basis. The regional picture behind these country totals sits in our ultra wealthy by world region and largest economies by GDP coverage.

The US dominates: the United States is home to about 23.8 million dollar millionaires in 2026, far more than China on about 6 million and the cluster of European and Asian economies below.

The count depends heavily on how wealth is measured. Capgemini, which excludes the main home, counts about 8.7 million in the United States, a difference our financial markets coverage helps frame.

A note on the data. The figures show the number of high net worth individuals in selected countries in 2026. UBS counts net worth above 1 million dollars including property, so its totals are larger than the Capgemini investable-assets figures often quoted alongside them. Because the UBS, Capgemini and Knight Frank methods each count a different thing, the world total ranges from about 2.3 million on the Knight Frank 10 million dollar basis to around 60 million on the UBS total-net-worth basis, and the figures here follow the UBS basis unless stated. A high net worth individual is most commonly defined as someone with more than 1 million dollars in wealth, though whether that means investable assets or total net worth including property is what separates the main sources.

HNWIs by Country

The table sets out the number of high net worth individuals in the leading countries in 2026 alongside each countrys share of the world total. It shows the United States far ahead of every other country, with China a distant second and a long tail below. Reading down the share column shows the concentration clearly, with the United States on about 38 percent, China on about 10 percent and no other country above 5 percent of the world total. Because the leading sources use different thresholds, the table follows the UBS basis throughout for consistency, and the Capgemini and Knight Frank figures are given separately where they add useful context.

Where Do the Worlds Millionaires Live?

The United States dominates. About 23.8 million Americans are dollar millionaires in 2026, roughly 38 percent of the world total and more than China, France, Japan and Germany combined, a concentration our US financial markets coverage frames. The scale of the American lead in millionaire numbers is difficult to overstate, since one country holds well over a third of the worlds dollar millionaires and more than the next several countries put together. The United States about 23.8 million dollar millionaires is roughly 38 percent of the world total, more than China, France, Japan and Germany combined, and about four times the Chinese total. The United States has built this lead over decades, and its combination of deep and liquid capital markets, high rates of home and equity ownership and a strong retirement-savings culture has no real parallel among large economies.

The American lead reflects deep capital markets, high home ownership, strong retirement savings and a long equity bull run, a mix our Nasdaq stock market and US economy coverage explores.

America leads: the United States holds about 38 percent of the worlds dollar millionaires, with China on about 10 percent and no other country above 5 percent.

The United States also created the most new millionaires in 2025, adding about 736,000, more than any other country, as strong stock markets and gains in the technology sector lifted household wealth. The concentration of new wealth creation in the United States, which accounted for almost half of all new millionaires in 2025, is one of the clearest signs of how dominant the American market has become in the global wealth story.

Which Country Is Second?

China is the second-largest source of high net worth individuals, with about 6 million dollar millionaires in 2026, roughly a quarter of the American total. Together the United States and China hold more than half of the worlds personal wealth. China is the only country that comes close to challenging the United States in absolute millionaire numbers, and even then the gap remains vast, a reminder of how concentrated global wealth still is. China rose from almost no dollar millionaires a generation ago to the second-largest population in the world, one of the fastest accumulations of private wealth in history, even if its growth has recently slowed.

Chinese millionaire numbers have grown rapidly over two decades, driven by manufacturing, property and technology, a rise built on the countrys rapid economic expansion over two decades.

Growth across the board: almost every leading country added millionaires between 2024 and 2025, with the United States and Japan adding the most.

China added about 154,000 new millionaires in 2025, fewer than the United States or Japan, as a weaker property market weighed on household wealth even as equity markets recovered. The slower pace of Chinese millionaire creation in 2025, held back by a weak property market, is a reminder that wealth growth is not guaranteed even in the worlds second-largest economy.

Which Countries Follow?

Below the top two, the numbers fall sharply. France, Japan and Germany each hold roughly 2.8 to 2.9 million dollar millionaires, followed by the United Kingdom on about 2.6 million and Canada on about 2.1 million. Below the top two economies the numbers drop away quickly, and the leading European and Asian nations cluster together in a tight band that has changed little in recent years. The tight clustering of France, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom reflects mature, wealthy economies of broadly similar size, and small year-to-year moves in stock and property markets can reorder them.

The leading European and Asian economies cluster closely together, reflecting mature markets and high property values, a pattern our global stock markets by country coverage frames through their equity markets.

Where millionaires are densest: Switzerland, the United States and Australia have the highest share of adults who are dollar millionaires, well above the global average.

Japan and China were among the strongest performers in 2025, adding about 436,000 and 154,000 millionaires respectively, while Canada added about 30,000 and Australia and India also grew. The strong performance of Japan, which added more new millionaires than any country except the United States in 2025, shows how much stock market rallies can move national wealth figures in a single year.

Which Country Added the Most Millionaires?

The United States led new millionaire creation in 2025 by a wide margin, adding about 736,000, followed by Japan on about 436,000 and China on about 154,000, with Canada, Australia and India adding smaller numbers. The figures for new millionaire creation are among the most revealing in the data, since they show where wealth is being made right now rather than where it has accumulated over decades. The United States added about 736,000 new millionaires in 2025, Japan about 436,000, China about 154,000, Canada about 30,000, Australia about 18,100 and India about 11,300, on Capgemini figures. The concentration of new wealth creation in a few markets, above all the United States, is reshaping the global distribution of millionaires faster than the long-standing country totals alone would suggest.

New millionaire creation tracks stock market performance closely, which is why 2025 was such a strong year, a link our asset markets and AI in finance coverage frames through the rallies that drove it.

US leads creation: the United States added about 736,000 new millionaires in 2025, more than any other country, followed by Japan on 436,000 and China on 154,000.

Almost half of all new millionaires in 2025 were created in the United States, underlining how concentrated wealth creation has become in a single market even as the global total keeps rising.

Why Do HNWI Figures Differ So Much?

The number of high net worth individuals in a country depends entirely on the definition used. Knight Frank counts only those worth 10 million dollars or more, so its United States figure is about 905,000 rather than millions. The single most important thing to understand about millionaire counts is that they depend entirely on the definition used, and the same country can appear to hold anywhere from hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of high net worth individuals. On the United States, Knight Frank counts about 905,000 people worth 10 million dollars or more, Capgemini about 8.7 million with investable assets over 1 million, and UBS about 23.8 million with total net worth over 1 million. Anyone comparing two millionaire figures should first check whether they use the same threshold and the same treatment of property, because without that the comparison is close to meaningless.

Capgemini counts investable assets above 1 million dollars and excludes the main home, giving a United States total of about 8.7 million, while UBS counts total net worth including property and reaches about 23.8 million, a spread our asset allocation coverage helps explain.

Why figures differ: the same country holds about 905,000 HNWIs at the 10 million dollar threshold, 8.7 million on investable assets, or 23.8 million on total net worth.

None of these definitions is wrong. They measure different things, which is why any figure for the number of high net worth individuals should always state the source and the wealth threshold it uses. The practical lesson is that any comparison of millionaire numbers across countries or over time is only meaningful if it uses a single consistent definition, since mixing sources produces figures that cannot be compared. For this reason the article states its basis at every turn, following UBS for the country ranking while noting the Capgemini and Knight Frank alternatives, so that no two figures are silently drawn from different methods.

Where Is Wealth Growing Fastest?

Growth in millionaire numbers varied sharply by region in 2025. Asia-Pacific grew fastest at about 9.4 percent, followed by North America on about 9.1 percent and Europe on about 6.5 percent, while the Middle East was the only region to contract. Where millionaire numbers are growing fastest is as important as where they are largest, since it points to how the country ranking will look in the years ahead. Asia-Pacific grew its millionaire population about 9.4 percent in 2025, North America about 9.1 percent, Europe about 6.5 percent and Latin America about 0.3 percent, while the Middle East contracted about 1.4 percent. The pattern of regional growth in 2025 marked a clear break from the year before, when parts of Europe and the Middle East were shrinking, and it points to a broader and more balanced recovery in private wealth.

The rebound was broad-based after a weaker 2024, with Europe returning to growth, a recovery powered by the same equity markets that lifted wealth across most regions.

Asia grows fastest: Asia-Pacific grew its millionaire population about 9.4 percent in 2025, ahead of North America on 9.1 percent and Europe on 6.5 percent.

The uneven regional growth is slowly reshaping the country ranking, with fast-growing Asian markets gaining ground on the mature economies of Europe even as the United States extends its lead at the top. The gap between fast-growing Asia and the more mature markets of Europe is slowly reshaping the global ranking, though the United States remains far enough ahead that its position at the top is not in question.

How Much Are They Worth?

The wealth of high net worth individuals reached a record in 2025. On the Capgemini basis their combined wealth rose about 8.7 percent to 98.3 trillion dollars, the largest single-year increase since 2018. The total wealth held by high net worth individuals is on a scale that dwarfs most national economies, and in 2025 it reached a record after a year of exceptionally strong asset markets. High net worth wealth reached about 98.3 trillion dollars in 2025 on the Capgemini basis, up 8.7 percent, the largest single-year rise since 2018, as the global millionaire population reached about 25.3 million. The record wealth held by high net worth individuals in 2025 reflects a remarkable run in global asset markets, and it left the group richer, relative to the rest of the population, than at almost any point on record.

Wealth at this scale shapes markets, property and philanthropy, a weight our investment banking and leading investment banks coverage frames through the firms that manage it.

A record high: the combined wealth of high net worth individuals reached about 98.3 trillion dollars in 2025, the largest single-year rise since 2018.

A steady climb: the global millionaire population has grown from about 19.6 million in 2019 to about 25.3 million in 2025 on the Capgemini basis.

The gains were driven by strong equity markets, with high net worth investors raising their equity allocation to about 25 percent of portfolios by early 2026, the largest single asset class. The rotation back into equities through 2025, after a defensive year in cash, is the main reason high net worth wealth grew so strongly, and it left portfolios more exposed to markets than at any point in recent years.

Are All Millionaires the Same?

High net worth individuals are not a single group. About nine in ten are millionaires next door, worth between 1 and 5 million dollars, while a small top tier of ultra high net worth individuals worth 30 million or more holds a disproportionate share of the wealth. The high net worth population is far from uniform, spanning everyone from comfortable millionaires next door to a tiny tier of ultra wealthy individuals whose fortunes run to hundreds of millions or more.

The ultra wealthy make up about 1 percent of the millionaire population yet hold roughly a third of its combined wealth, a concentration that has deepened steadily as asset prices have risen over the past decade.

Most are next-door: about nine in ten high net worth individuals are worth 1 to 5 million dollars, with a small ultra wealthy tier holding a disproportionate share.

The ultra wealthy tier has grown fastest for two years running, expanding about 9.4 percent in 2025, which is why wealth is concentrating further even as the total number of millionaires rises. The persistent outperformance of the ultra wealthy tier, growing faster than the broader millionaire population for two years running, is deepening the concentration of wealth even within the ranks of the rich.

Are More Women Millionaires?

The millionaire population remains mostly male but is slowly diversifying. Women make up a growing share of new high net worth individuals, driven by both inheritance and a rising number of self-made women. The gender composition of the high net worth population is changing slowly, and while men still dominate, the share of women is rising, particularly among the young and in fast-growing regions.

The shift mirrors the pattern at the very top of the wealth ladder, a trend our billionaire wealth by gender and US billionaires by gender coverage explores through the source of the largest fortunes.

The change is most visible among younger millionaires and in fast-growing regions, where new wealth is more likely to be built or shared by women than the older, more inherited wealth of established economies. The gradual rise of women among the high net worth population points to a slow rebalancing of a group that has always been heavily male, though the change is happening faster at the top than in the broad millionaire class.

HNWIs by Country in Numbers

A few figures frame the picture. The United States holds about 23.8 million dollar millionaires, China about 6 million, and France, Japan and Germany each about 2.8 to 2.9 million, out of a world total near 60 million on the UBS basis. These figures together map a world of highly concentrated wealth, held overwhelmingly in a handful of large economies and led by the United States to a degree unmatched in any comparable ranking. Together these numbers describe a distribution of wealth that is concentrated to a degree many find surprising, with a single country holding well over a third of the worlds dollar millionaires.

These figures matter because the location of wealth shapes markets, property and consumption, a link our biggest companies by value coverage follows through the companies these fortunes are built on.

Together they describe a world where dollar millionaires are concentrated in a handful of large economies, led overwhelmingly by the United States, and growing fastest in Asia. For now, the geography of the worlds millionaires remains strikingly concentrated, and while Asia is closing the gap, the United States sits far enough ahead that it will lead the ranking for years to come.

HNWIs by Country: The Big Picture

Taken together, the number of high net worth individuals by country in 2026 shows the United States far ahead, China a distant second and a long tail of mature economies, a distribution that closely tracks the size and maturity of each countrys economy.

Whichever definition is used, the shape is the same, a heavily American-led distribution that is slowly tilting toward Asia, alongside the wealth and markets tracked across our finance coverage.

Frequently Asked Questions: HNWIs by Country