The ultra-rich are getting richer and their global population is growing. After a year that saw strong growth in the stock market, real estate and cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, the number of ultra-rich individuals around the world increased by more than 4%, according to a new report.
But being counted among the highest net worth individuals can be much “easier” in some countries than in others. To belong to the top 1% in America, your net worth should be around $5.8 million or higher, according to real estate firm Knight Frank’s new Wealth Report. In some countries, however, you only need to be worth a fraction of that value to be part of the 1%; in others, you need to have much greater wealth to be part of this elite group.
Top 1% net worth worldwide
The Knight Frank Wealth Report shows what it takes to become a member of the world’s richest 1%. The 1% refers to the top 1% of individuals in a given country based on net worth – or the value of all assets owned, minus debt and other liabilities.
Here is the minimum net worth you need to have as an individual to be in the top 1% in selected countries around the world, as of Q4 2023:
- Monaco: $12.88 million
- Luxembourg: $10.83 million
- Switzerland: 8.51 million dollars
- United States: $5.81 million
- Singapore: $5.23 million
- Sweden: $4.76 million
- Australia: $4.67 million
- New Zealand: $4.57 million
- Ireland: $4.32 million
- Germany: $3.43 million
- France: $3.27 million
- Hong Kong: $3.09 million
- United Kingdom: $3.07 million
- Italy: 2.55 million dollars
- Spain: 2.47 million dollars
- Japan: $1.97 million
- China: $1.07 million
As you might imagine, the report shows that you need a higher net worth to be in the top 1% of countries with small populations. The two countries at the top of the list, Monaco and Luxembourg, have populations of just 37,000 and 640,000 respectively. Switzerland and Singapore, which round out the top 5 alongside the United States, also both have populations of less than 10 million people.
The United States, which has a population of approximately 335 million, represents an important exception to this trend. China and Japan, also very populous, have the lowest minimum wealth thresholds on the list, both below $2 million.
Another thing noted by Knight Frank is that these figures are just the minimum must be in the top 1%; the variation among members of the same elite wealth percentile is still quite large. There is another level of financial elite within the 1% called ultra-high net worth individuals, or UHNWIs. In the United States, it might take $5.81 million to be among the top 1%, but it takes a minimum net worth of $30 million to be considered among the richest.
As of the end of 2023, this ultra-high net worth population is on the rise, reaching 626,000 globally, up from just over 600,000 the previous year. The global population of this ultra-wealthy group declined in 2022, a bad year for most markets.
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