The world’s ultra-rich population is shrinking for the first time since 2018 as thousands of Americans lose their super-rich status
The world’s ultra-rich population is shrinking for the first time since 2018 as thousands of Americans lose their super-rich status
The world’s ultra-rich population has shrunk for the first time since 2018 as America lost nearly 7,000 of its richest citizens.
An “ultra high net worth” (UHNW) is anyone who has over $30 million to their name.
The landmark World Ultra Wealth Report. from Altrata and Wealth-X found that the global UHNW population shrank by 5.4 percent to 395,070 people in 2022 – the largest decline since 2015.
It marked a turnaround compared to 2021, when the number of super-rich citizens increased. Research from property consultant Knight Frank found the UHNW population grew by 9.3 per cent in 2021.
Experts said the recent decline only “partially” wiped out those gains. And the trend has been driven by Asia and Europe, with the US still accounting for the lion’s share of ultra-rich residents.
The world’s ultra-rich population has shrunk for the first time since 2018 as America lost nearly 7,000 of its richest citizens
Together, the richest Americans have a total wealth of $15.1 trillion. This was followed by China and Germany, whose richest residents share $5.3 trillion and $2.3 trillion respectively.
About five cities in the top ten with the highest UHNW populations were in the Americas.
After Hong Kong, New York came in second with 11,845 residents who owned more than $30 million.
Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago ranked fourth, fifth and sixth. Washington DC was number ten on the list.
The report noted that America performed better than most countries and lost fewer assets than the global average – “cementing its status as by far the largest wealth market in the world.”
The researchers noted that they remain “cautiously optimistic” about the global asset market.
“After a period of robust global wealth creation in 2019-21, wealth preservation became the primary focus for many UHNW individuals in 2022.”
Fed interest rates shot to a 22-year high of 5.5 percent in July
Goldman Sachs this week cut its forecasts that the U.S. would enter a recession from 20 percent to 15 percent.
“The global economy showed some resilience in the first half of 2023, Europe avoided a predicted deep recession and consumer activity in the US and China was stronger than expected.” Assuming this “cautious optimism” continues.”
As a result, the world population is estimated to increase to 528,100 by 2027, an increase of 133,000 from today.
The US has been hit by economic turmoil since the end of the pandemic. Shares in the S&P 500 index ended 2022 with a decline of 18 percent from their level at the beginning of the year.
However, the market managed to recover: the S&P 500 gained 16.71 percent in the first half of the year.
And the US has managed to tame rampant global inflation more successfully than the rest of the world.
The Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hikes – which catapulted interest rates to a 22-year high – have managed to reduce the annual inflation rate to 3.2 percent from a peak of 9 percent in the summer of 2022.
That meant economists at Goldman Sachs this week cut their forecasts that the U.S. would enter a recession from 20 percent to 15 percent.