There are more ultrarich people on Earth than ever before — 426,330 of them, to be exact, data firm Wealth-X found. That’s about 0.005% of the total global population.
The ultrawealthy are defined as having an individual net worth of at least $30 million. Their population increased 7.6% over the last year, and they have a combined net worth of $49.2 trillion. Only 0.8% of the world’s ultra-high net worth population are billionaires, but they account for 24% of the combined net worth, according to Wealth-X’s 2024 Ultra Wealth Report.
And birds of a feather flock together.
Almost 75% of the world’s ultrawealthy live in just 10 countries, and about one-sixth of the world’s wealthiest live in 10 cities.
Six of those cities are in the United States, which makes sense given that 35% of the world’s ultrawealthy live in the country. While three cities in Asia were on the list last year, Singapore fell off the list.
These cities are will likely only become more important global centers of wealth over the next five years as the ultra-high net worth individuals become more concentrated: Wealth-X predicts that nearly 42% of the ultrawealthy will live in one of 50 cities, up from 38% in 2015.
Some of those 50 cities will be in emerging wealth hubs, including India. Three of the 10 fastest-growing cities for the ultrawealthy are in the country: Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Delhi. The ultrawealthy populations in each of these cities are growing between 14% and 16% each year.
For now, here are the 10 cities where ultra-high net worth people live as well as the ultrawealthy population in each, according to the report.
- Dallas: 4,875
- Washington, DC: 4,950
- Paris: 5,370
- Chicago: 5,725
- London: 6,245
- San Francisco: 6,405
- Tokyo: 6,445
- Los Angeles: 8,955
- Hong Kong: 12,545
- New York: 16,630