The Country Where One Billionaire Owns 18.9% Of The Wealth, And Other Nations With Extreme Inequality

By Evan Comen Published Jul 17, 8:00AM EDT

Key Points

Billionaires account for 1.7% of total wealth worldwide.
In some countries, the proportion is far higher.
In one country, one single man owns 18.9% of total domestic wealth.

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The Country Where One Billionaire Owns 18.9% Of The Wealth, And Other Nations With Extreme Inequality — © mbrand85 / iStock via Getty Images

According to the latest Forbes data, there are now over 3,000 billionaires on planet Earth, nearly triple the number of billionaires 15 years ago. After the COVID-19 pandemic triggered the largest upward transfer of wealth in history, with the world’s ten wealthiest men doubling their collective fortunes from $700 billion to $1.5 trillion, money is now more concentrated among the top one percent of earners than ever before.

Globally, billionaires account for 1.7% of wealth. In some countries, billionaire wealth is even more concentrated, accounting for more than 4.0% of domestic wealth. The countries where billionaires own the most wealth tend to have high inequality in general, or have billionaire-friendly tax laws that attract the ultra wealthy. In one country, one single billionaire owns 18.9% of all domestic wealth – a staggering proportion. A closer look at the data reveals the countries where billionaires own the most wealth.

To determine the countries where billionaires own the most wealth, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data from the World Bank and Forbes Real Time Billionaires List. Countries were ranked based on total billionaire wealth as of December 31, 2024 as a percentage of total domestic wealth. Data on total billionaire wealth is aggregated from Forbes data and is based on country of residence. Data on domestic wealth is from the World Bank and is based on domestic wealth accounts.

40. South Korea

Total billionaire wealth: $105.0 billion (0.8% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $13.5 trillion
Total billionaire count: 38 individuals
Total population: 51,712,619 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Jay Y. Lee ($11.5B), Michael Kim ($9.7B), Seo Jung-jin ($7.3B), Cho Jung-ho ($6.3B), Mong-Koo Chung ($4.9B), Kim Beom-su ($4.6B), Hong Ra-hee ($4.3B), Lee Boo-jin ($4.0B), Euisun Chung ($3.7B), Lee Seo-hyun ($3.6B)

39. Luxembourg

Total billionaire wealth: $4.7 billion (0.8% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $579.1 billion
Total billionaire count: 1 individual
Total population: 666,430 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Paola Del Vecchio ($4.7B)

38. Bahrain

Total billionaire wealth: $1.5 billion (0.9% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $174.4 billion
Total billionaire count: 1 individual
Total population: 1,577,059 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Robert Mouawad ($1.5B)

37. Australia

Total billionaire wealth: $201.8 billion (0.9% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $21.9 trillion
Total billionaire count: 45 individuals
Total population: 26,658,948 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Gina Rinehart ($30.8B), Andrew Forrest & family ($19.0B), Harry Triguboff ($16.5B), Mike Cannon-Brookes ($13.3B), Scott Farquhar ($13.0B), Anthony Pratt ($10.6B), Richard White ($8.2B), Kerry Stokes ($6.6B), Blair Parry-Okeden ($6.1B), Melanie Perkins ($4.4B)

36. Canada

Total billionaire wealth: $210.7 billion (1.0% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $21.0 trillion
Total billionaire count: 44 individuals
Total population: 40,097,761 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: David Thomson & family ($67.8B), Jim Pattison ($9.3B), Alain Bouchard ($8.0B), Anthony von Mandl ($7.7B), Tobi Lutke ($6.9B), Chip Wilson ($6.8B), Arthur Irving ($6.3B), James Irving ($5.6B), Peter Gilgan ($5.5B), Daryl Katz ($5.0B)

35. Brazil

Total billionaire wealth: $154.9 billion (1.0% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $15.3 trillion
Total billionaire count: 60 individuals
Total population: 211,140,729 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Marcel Herrmann Telles & family ($10.9B), David Velez & family ($10.8B), Fernando Roberto Moreira Salles ($7.6B), Pedro Moreira Salles ($7.1B), Andre Esteves ($6.6B), Miguel Krigsner ($5.7B), Walther Moreira Salles Junior ($5.3B), Joao Moreira Salles ($5.3B), Jorge Moll Filho & family ($4.5B), Alceu Elias Feldmann & family ($3.7B)

34. Germany

Total billionaire wealth: $505.7 billion (1.1% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $47.8 trillion
Total billionaire count: 110 individuals
Total population: 83,280,000 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Dieter Schwarz ($38.0B), Reinhold Wuerth & family ($33.6B), Stefan Quandt ($27.3B), Susanne Klatten ($26.5B), Karl Albrecht Jr. & family ($15.9B), Theo Albrecht, Jr. & family ($14.0B), Hasso Plattner & family ($12.1B), Georg Schaeffler ($10.9B), Friedhelm Loh ($10.6B), Thomas Struengmann & family ($9.8B)

33. Armenia

Total billionaire wealth: $1.1 billion (1.1% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $102.7 billion
Total billionaire count: 1 individual
Total population: 2,990,900 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Ruben Vardanyan & family ($1.1B)

32. Malaysia

Total billionaire wealth: $31.3 billion (1.1% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $2.8 trillion
Total billionaire count: 10 individuals
Total population: 35,126,298 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Quek Leng Chan ($8.8B), Ananda Krishnan ($4.9B), Koon Poh Keong ($3.7B), Lee Yeow Chor ($3.1B), Lim Kok Thay ($2.3B), Lee Yeow Seng ($2.3B), Jeffrey Cheah ($2.0B), Lau Cho Kun ($1.5B), William Teh Lee Pang ($1.4B), Syed Mokhtar AlBukhary ($1.3B)

31. South Africa

Total billionaire wealth: $29.4 billion (1.1% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $2.6 trillion
Total billionaire count: 6 individuals
Total population: 63,212,384 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Johann Rupert & family ($12.2B), Nicky Oppenheimer & family ($9.5B), Patrice Motsepe ($2.7B), Koos Bekker ($2.6B), Christoffel Wiese ($1.2B), Michiel Le Roux ($1.2B)

30. Denmark

Waste energy plant, Amager bakke, Copenhill in Copenhagen, Denmark, makes environmentally friendly energy and electricity from garbage by Dabuch

Waste energy plant, Amager bakke, Copenhill in Copenhagen, Denmark, makes environmentally friendly energy and electricity from garbage (Shutterstock.com) by Dabuch

Total billionaire wealth: $49.1 billion (1.1% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $4.3 trillion
Total billionaire count: 8 individuals
Total population: 5,946,952 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Anders Holch Povlsen ($12.5B), Niels Peter Louis-Hansen ($7.4B), Agnete Kirk Thinggaard ($6.5B), Thomas Kirk Kristiansen ($6.5B), Sofie Kirk Kristiansen ($6.5B), Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen ($6.0B), Bent Jensen & Family ($2.4B), Benedicte Find ($1.3B)

29. Greece

THASSOS TOWN HARBOUR ENTRANCE. THASSOS. GREECE. by ronsaunders47

THASSOS TOWN HARBOUR ENTRANCE. THASSOS. GREECE. (BY-SA 2.0) by ronsaunders47

Total billionaire wealth: $15.9 billion (1.2% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $1.4 trillion
Total billionaire count: 6 individuals
Total population: 10,405,588 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Maria Angelicoussis ($6.4B), Constantinos Martinos & family ($2.3B), Vardis Vardinoyannis & family ($2.1B), Andreas Martinos & family ($1.8B), Marianna Latsis & family ($1.8B), Athanasios Martinos & family ($1.5B)

28. Belgium

Total billionaire wealth: $58.6 billion (1.2% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $5.0 trillion
Total billionaire count: 7 individuals
Total population: 11,787,423 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Giovanni Ferrero ($43.8B), Gerald Frere ($3.3B), Segolene Gallienne ($3.1B), Theo Roussis & Family ($3.0B), Pierre van der Mersch ($2.2B), Fabien Pinckaers ($2.1B), Peter Kamprad ($1.1B)

27. China

Total billionaire wealth: $1.4 trillion (1.2% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $116.8 trillion
Total billionaire count: 427 individuals
Total population: 1,410,710,000 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Zhong Shanshan ($62.3B), Colin Huang ($38.9B), William Ding ($33.5B), Ma Huateng ($30.2B), He Xiangjian & family ($25.1B), Jack Ma ($24.5B), Robin Zeng ($22.9B), Eric Li ($16.8B), Qin Yinglin ($15.5B), Li Xiting ($15.1B)

26. Turkey

Total billionaire wealth: $53.8 billion (1.3% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $4.3 trillion
Total billionaire count: 26 individuals
Total population: 85,325,965 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Murat Ulker ($5.1B), Saban Cemil Kazanci ($3.5B), Ipek Kirac ($3.1B), Semahat Sevim Arsel ($3.0B), Ibrahim Erdemoglu ($2.8B), Mustafa Rahmi Koc ($2.7B), Erman Ilicak ($2.7B), Ali Erdemoglu ($2.5B), Ferit Faik Sahenk ($2.4B), Filiz Sahenk ($2.2B)

25. Uruguay

Total billionaire wealth: $7.1 billion (1.3% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $563.0 billion
Total billionaire count: 3 individuals
Total population: 3,388,081 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Alejandro Bulgheroni ($4.9B), Sergio Fogel ($1.1B), Andres Bzurovski Bay ($1.1B)

24. Italy

Total billionaire wealth: $190.3 billion (1.3% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $14.8 trillion
Total billionaire count: 61 individuals
Total population: 58,993,475 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Giorgio Armani ($11.3B), Piero Ferrari ($8.6B), Massimiliana Landini Aleotti & family ($7.6B), Sergio Stevanato & family ($7.0B), Miuccia Prada ($6.4B), Patrizio Bertelli ($6.4B), Gianfelice Rocca ($5.6B), Giuseppe De’Longhi & family ($4.8B), Marisa Del Vecchio ($4.7B), Luca Del Vecchio ($4.7B)

23. Chile

Reserva Nacional Tamango - Cochrane - Chile by pepsiline

Reserva Nacional Tamango - Cochrane - Chile (PDM 1.0) by pepsiline

Total billionaire wealth: $34.9 billion (1.3% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $2.7 trillion
Total billionaire count: 5 individuals
Total population: 19,658,835 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Iris Fontbona & family ($25.7B), Horst Paulmann & family ($3.4B), Julio Ponce Lerou ($2.6B), Roberto Angelini Rossi ($1.8B), Patricia Angelini Rossi ($1.4B)

22. Latvia

Total billionaire wealth: $4.3 billion (1.3% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $324.0 billion
Total billionaire count: 1 individual
Total population: 1,877,445 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Pyotr Aven ($4.3B)

21. United Kingdom

Total billionaire wealth: $416.3 billion (1.6% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $26.5 trillion
Total billionaire count: 83 individuals
Total population: 68,350,000 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Len Blavatnik ($32.1B), Kushal Pal Singh ($20.9B), John Fredriksen ($16.9B), James Ratcliffe ($16.5B), Lakshmi Mittal ($16.4B), Idan Ofer ($15.8B), Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken & family ($14.1B), James Dyson ($13.6B), Alexander Gerko ($10.4B), David Reuben ($9.6B)

20. Sweden

Total billionaire wealth: $111.7 billion (1.6% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $7.0 trillion
Total billionaire count: 28 individuals
Total population: 10,536,632 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Stefan Persson ($16.6B), Antonia Ax:son Johnson & family ($10.2B), Carl Bennet ($8.5B), Fredrik Lundberg ($8.2B), Eric Douglas ($6.4B), Carl Douglas ($6.4B), Martin Lorentzon ($5.9B), Märta Schörling Andreen ($5.6B), Sofia Högberg Schörling ($5.6B), Daniel Ek ($4.2B)

19. Spain

Total billionaire wealth: $175.4 billion (1.6% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $10.7 trillion
Total billionaire count: 27 individuals
Total population: 48,347,910 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Amancio Ortega ($103.0B), Sandra Ortega Mera ($9.3B), Rafael Del Pino ($6.0B), Juan Roig ($5.5B), Juan Carlos Escotet ($4.4B), Isak Andic & family ($4.0B), Maria Del Pino ($3.3B), Alicia Koplowitz ($3.2B), Hortensia Herrero ($3.2B), Tomas Olivo Lopez ($3.1B)

18. Philippines

Total billionaire wealth: $49.2 billion (1.8% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $2.8 trillion
Total billionaire count: 16 individuals
Total population: 114,891,199 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Manuel Villar ($11.0B), Enrique Razon Jr. ($10.0B), Ramon Ang ($3.5B), Hans Sy ($2.6B), Lucio Tan ($2.5B), Herbert Sy ($2.5B), Henry Sy, Jr. ($2.5B), Harley Sy ($2.4B), Teresita Sy-Coson ($2.3B), Elizabeth Sy ($2.1B)

17. France

Total billionaire wealth: $574.4 billion (1.8% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $32.1 trillion
Total billionaire count: 46 individuals
Total population: 68,287,487 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Bernard Arnault & family ($233.0B), Francoise Bettencourt Meyers & family ($99.5B), François Pinault & family ($31.6B), Emmanuel Besnier ($25.5B), Vincent Bolloré & family ($10.0B), Xavier Niel ($9.9B), Marie-Hélène Habert-Dassault ($9.4B), Thierry Dassault ($9.4B), Laurent Dassault ($9.4B), Giancarlo Devasini ($9.2B)

16. Austria

Total billionaire wealth: $77.0 billion (1.8% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $4.2 trillion
Total billionaire count: 8 individuals
Total population: 9,131,761 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Mark Mateschitz ($39.6B), Georg Stumpf ($12.6B), Johann Graf ($7.1B), Renate Reimann-Haas ($5.6B), Stefan Reimann-Andersen ($5.6B), Wolfgang Leitner ($2.7B), Christian Birkenstock ($2.5B), Michael Tojner ($1.3B)

15. Thailand

Total billionaire wealth: $84.7 billion (1.9% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $4.5 trillion
Total billionaire count: 26 individuals
Total population: 71,702,435 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Dhanin Chearavanont ($12.5B), Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi ($11.3B), Sarath Ratanavadi ($10.7B), Sumet Jiaravanon ($5.5B), Jaran Chiaravanont ($5.4B), Vanich Chaiyawan ($3.8B), Prasert Prasarttong-Osoth ($3.7B), Somurai Jaruphnit ($3.1B), Prayudh Mahagitsiri ($2.2B), Wichai Thongtang ($2.1B)

14. Czech Republic

Total billionaire wealth: $44.1 billion (2.0% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $2.2 trillion
Total billionaire count: 7 individuals
Total population: 10,864,042 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Renata Kellnerova & family ($18.0B), Daniel Kretinsky ($9.4B), Pavel Tykac ($7.7B), Andrej Babis ($3.5B), Pavel Baudis ($2.3B), Marek Dospiva ($1.8B), Eduard Kucera ($1.4B)

13. Israel

Total billionaire wealth: $85.6 billion (2.1% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $4.1 trillion
Total billionaire count: 32 individuals
Total population: 9,756,600 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Viatcheslav Kantor ($9.8B), Frank Lowy ($6.5B), Teddy Sagi ($6.4B), Stef Wertheimer & family ($6.3B), Shari Arison ($5.5B), Yitzhak Tshuva ($4.5B), Gil Shwed ($4.4B), Arnon Milchan ($3.4B), Michael Federmann & family ($3.4B), David Wertheim ($2.4B)

12. United States

Total billionaire wealth: $5.8 trillion (2.2% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $261.4 trillion
Total billionaire count: 834 individuals
Total population: 334,914,895 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Elon Musk ($195.0B), Jeff Bezos ($194.0B), Mark Zuckerberg ($177.0B), Larry Ellison ($141.0B), Warren Buffett ($133.0B), Bill Gates ($128.0B), Steve Ballmer ($121.0B), Larry Page ($114.0B), Sergey Brin ($110.0B), Michael Bloomberg ($106.0B)

11. Mexico

Total billionaire wealth: $196.5 billion (2.4% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $8.2 trillion
Total billionaire count: 20 individuals
Total population: 129,739,759 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Carlos Slim Helu & family ($102.0B), GermÃ¡n Larrea Mota Velasco & family ($27.9B), Ricardo Salinas Pliego & family ($13.4B), Alejandro Baillères Gual & family ($8.1B), Maria Asuncion Aramburuzabala & family ($6.3B), Juan Domingo Beckmann Legorreta & family ($4.6B), Carlos Hank Rhon & family ($4.4B), Antonio Del Valle Ruiz & family ($3.5B), Rufino Vigil Gonzalez ($3.4B), Fernando Chico Pardo ($3.3B)

10. Indonesia

Total billionaire wealth: $182.3 billion (2.5% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $7.2 trillion
Total billionaire count: 29 individuals
Total population: 281,190,067 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Prajogo Pangestu ($43.4B), Low Tuck Kwong ($27.4B), R. Budi Hartono ($26.5B), Michael Hartono ($25.5B), Agoes Projosasmito ($5.9B), Chairul Tanjung ($5.5B), Tahir & family ($4.8B), Dewi Kam ($4.5B), Djoko Susanto ($4.1B), Lim Hariyanto Wijaya Sarwono ($4.0B)

9. Russia

Total billionaire wealth: $425.3 billion (2.6% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $16.1 trillion
Total billionaire count: 95 individuals
Total population: 143,826,130 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Vagit Alekperov ($28.6B), Leonid Mikhelson & family ($27.4B), Vladimir Lisin ($26.6B), Alexey Mordashov & family ($25.5B), Vladimir Potanin ($23.7B), Gennady Timchenko ($23.4B), Mikhail Fridman ($13.1B), Suleiman Kerimov & family ($10.7B), Viktor Rashnikov ($10.6B), Roman Abramovich & family ($9.7B)

8. Lebanon

Total billionaire wealth: $5.6 billion (2.7% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $206.5 billion
Total billionaire count: 2 individuals
Total population: 5,773,493 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Taha Mikati ($2.8B), Najib Mikati ($2.8B)

7. Kazakhstan

Total billionaire wealth: $30.6 billion (2.8% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $1.1 trillion
Total billionaire count: 7 individuals
Total population: 20,330,104 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Vyacheslav Kim ($5.8B), Mikhail Lomtadze ($5.2B), Dinara Kulibaeva ($5.0B), Timur Kulibaev ($5.0B), Vladimir Kim ($3.6B), Timur Turlov ($3.3B), Bulat Utemuratov ($2.7B)

6. India

Total billionaire wealth: $905.6 billion (4.0% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $22.5 trillion
Total billionaire count: 191 individuals
Total population: 1,438,069,596 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Mukesh Ambani ($116.0B), Gautam Adani ($84.0B), Shiv Nadar ($36.9B), Savitri Jindal & family ($33.5B), Dilip Shanghvi ($26.7B), Cyrus Poonawalla ($21.3B), Kumar Birla ($19.7B), Radhakishan Damani ($17.6B), Ravi Jaipuria ($16.2B), Uday Kotak ($13.3B)

5. United Arab Emirates

Total billionaire wealth: $138.7 billion (4.5% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $3.1 trillion
Total billionaire count: 18 individuals
Total population: 10,483,751 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Changpeng Zhao ($33.0B), Vinod Adani ($23.0B), Andrey Melnichenko & family ($21.1B), Pavel Durov ($15.5B), M.A. Yusuff Ali ($7.6B), Hussain Sajwani ($5.1B), Renuka Jagtiani ($4.8B), Abdulla bin Ahmad Al Ghurair & family ($3.9B), Shamsheer Vayalil ($3.5B), Sunny Varkey ($3.3B)

4. Switzerland

Total billionaire wealth: $496.4 billion (4.9% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $10.1 trillion
Total billionaire count: 86 individuals
Total population: 8,888,093 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Klaus-Michael Kuehne ($39.2B), Rafaela Aponte-Diamant ($33.1B), Gianluigi Aponte ($33.1B), Andrea Pignataro ($27.5B), Vicky Safra & family ($20.6B), Michael Platt ($18.0B), Jorge Paulo Lemann & family ($16.4B), Nicolas Puech ($15.6B), Ernesto Bertarelli ($11.2B), Mikhail Prokhorov ($11.0B)

3. Georgia

Night skyline of Atlanta, Geor... by Free Public Domain Illustrations by rawpixel

Night skyline of Atlanta, Geor... (CC BY 2.0) by Free Public Domain Illustrations by rawpixel

Total billionaire wealth: $4.9 billion (5.7% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $85.6 billion
Total billionaire count: 1 individual
Total population: 3,715,483 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Bidzina Ivanishvili ($4.9B)

2. Singapore

Total billionaire wealth: $198.9 billion (7.2% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $2.8 trillion
Total billionaire count: 53 individuals
Total population: 5,917,648 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Zhang Yiming ($43.4B), Eduardo Saverin ($28.0B), Goh Cheng Liang ($12.7B), Philip Ng ($7.2B), Robert Ng ($7.1B), Leo Koguan ($6.0B), Zhang Yong ($4.9B), Takao Yasuda ($4.1B), Forrest Li ($3.6B), Martua Sitorus ($3.4B)

1. Eswatini

Total billionaire wealth: $7.2 billion (18.9% of domestic wealth)
Total domestic wealth: $38.0 billion
Total billionaire count: 1 individual
Total population: 1,230,506 residents
Wealthiest billionaires: Nathan Kirsh ($7.2B)

About the Author Evan Comen →

Evan Comen is a writer for 24/7 Wall St. He has worked as a data journalist since 2015, covering climate change and urban economics. His work is regularly featured on MSN, and has been cited in many major online and print publications, including The Boston Globe, the Chicago Tribune, and The New York Times.