When one thinks of millionaires and billionaires, the countries USA, China and UK usually come to mind. And while in terms of absolute numbers of millionaires and ultra high net worth individuals (those with more than $100 million in assets) this would be correct (and since these countries also have the greatest number of poor people too, it merely confirms the record gap between the rich and poor), a very different view emerges when observing the world's uber wealthy not on an absolute but relative basis. In that case, when ranked by millionaires as a proportion of the population, the top three nations are Qatar, Switzerland and Singapore where millionaires account for more than 10% of all households, while a ranking of the most UHNW individuals per 100,000 households gives Hong Kong, Switzerland and Austria in the top three spots.
From Boston Consulting Group
As the debate over the global polarization of wealth rages on, one thing is certain: more people are becoming wealthy. The total number of millionaire households (in U.S. dollar terms) reached 16.3 million in 2013, up strongly from 13.7 million in 2012 and representing 1.1 percent of all households globally. The U.S. had the highest number of millionaire households (7.1 million), as well as the highest number of new millionaires (1.1 million). Robust wealth creation in China was reflected by its rise in millionaire households from 1.5 million in 2012 to 2.4 million in 2013, surpassing Japan. Indeed, the number of millionaire households in Japan fell from 1.5 million to 1.2 million, driven by the 15 percent fall in the yen against the dollar.
The highest density of millionaire households was in Qatar (175 out of every 1,000 house-holds), followed by Switzerland (127) and Singapore (100). The U.S. had the largest number of billionaires, but the highest density of billionaire households was in Hong Kong (15.3 per million), followed by Switzerland (8.5 per million).
Wealth held by all segments above $1 million is projected to grow by at least 7.7 percent per year through 2018, compared with an average of 3.7 percent per year in segments below $1 million. Ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) households, those with $100 million or more, held $8.4 trillion in wealth in 2013 (5.5 percent of the global total), an increase of 19.7 percent over 2012. At an expected CAGR of 9.1 percent over the next five years, UHNW households are projected to hold $13.0 trillion in wealth (6.5 percent of the total) by the end of 2018.
And the full breakdown:
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