Global personal wealth rose at its fastest pace in years last year, adding nearly 1 million new millionaires, a report showed. In the United States, more than 1,200 people joined the ranks of millionaires each day on average, while the number of millionaires in South Korea surpassed 1.3 million for the first time.
According to The Wall Street Journal and Reuters on Monday, Swiss investment bank UBS said in its "Global Wealth Report 2025" that global personal wealth grew 10.8% last year from a year earlier. That increase far exceeded the rates of 2024 (4.6%) and 2023 (4.2%), with analysts attributing the gain to strength in global financial markets.
UBS said the number of new dollar millionaires worldwide reached about 1 million last year, adding that "more millionaires emerged in more places around the world than ever before."
The United States posted the largest increase. Last year, more than 440,000 people in the country crossed 1 million dollars (about 1.5 billion won) in net worth to become millionaires. On a daily basis, that translates to more than 1,200 people newly becoming wealthy, with the United States accounting for nearly half of the world's new millionaires.
The United States currently has more than 23.6 million millionaires, maintaining its position as the world's largest. UBS cited the booming financial markets, including stocks and bonds, as the driver of US wealth growth. Financial assets account for 79% of US household wealth, the highest level in the world, and benefited far more from rising financial markets than from real estate, it explained.
Europe's wealth growth was also notable. UBS said the increase reflected the sharp rise in dollar-denominated European asset values, as the dollar weakened against the euro last year.
However, the wealth gains were not spread evenly across all income levels. UBS said that while average wealth increased, median wealth declined in most countries, diagnosing that wealth polarization has deepened further since 2020.
The Wall Street Journal also analyzed that "while high-net-worth individuals significantly grew their assets on the back of the rising stock market, those more dependent on wage income faced relative difficulties from high prices and limited wage growth."
In particular, the ultra-high-net-worth segment holding net worth of 50 million to 100 million dollars (about 77 billion to 155 billion won) grew 7.3% over the past five years, recording the fastest growth. This is seen as a result of the concentrated benefits from strength in technology stocks and the financial market boom.
By country, the United States ranked first by a wide margin with 23.6 million millionaires. It was followed by China (5.3 million), Japan (2.9 million), Germany (2.6 million), the United Kingdom (2.4 million), France (2.4 million), Australia (1.6 million), South Korea (1.3 million), the Netherlands (1.3 million) and Italy (1.2 million).
South Korea had 1.301 million millionaires in 2024, surpassing 1.3 million for the first time and ranking 10th in the world among the 56 countries surveyed.
The report was based on an analysis of 56 countries and regions accounting for more than 92% of global wealth.
