World’s 200,000 Richest People Hold 12% of World’s Wealth

Of the estimated 7.6 billion people on earth, just 0.004% (212,615 individuals) control some $30 trillion in wealth. That’s slightly more than the 2015 GDP of the United States and China combined, and 12% of the world’s total wealth.

Based on an estimated compound annual growth rate of 8.4%, that total will rise to $46.2 trillion by 2020 according to a new report released Tuesday by Wealth-X.

The Wealth-X report includes only ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNW) who claim at least $30 million in net assets.

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The Americas account for 43% of the UHNW population, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) account for 32.8%, and the Asia-Pacific region accounts for 24.2%. Year-over-year changes, however, favored Asia-Pacific which saw rise of 3.9% in total wealth compared with a rise of 1.5% in the Americas and a decline of 2.4% in EMEA.

The number of UHNW individuals in the Americas increased by 1.9% year over year and rose 1.4% in Asia-Pacific. EMEA saw a drop of 1.5% in the number of people in the UHNW class.

A UHNW individual’s average wealth is $141 million and the average age of these individuals is 59. More than 87% are men and nearly 13% are women, but men have nearly 89% of the wealth while women have just over 11%.

Wealth-X also reported that nearly 64% made their fortunes themselves while 17.3% inherited their wealth, and the other 19% came by their wealth through a combination of both.

More than 91% are married, 3.6% are divorced, 2.7% are widowed, and 2.3% are single.

In the United States there are 69,350 UHNW individuals, down 0.3% year over year and their wealth also declined slightly, by 1.1%. A fifth of the wealthiest Americans derived their wealth from finance, banking, and investment. Of the total U.S. population, UHNW individuals account for 0.8% of the population and billionaires comprise nearly 26% of these fortunate few. Their average net worth is $137 million and their average age is 61. Since 2011, the number of UHNW individuals has grown by nearly 20% and their wealth has grown by more than 25%.

The full report is available at the Wealth-X website.

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