Stock gains lifted global millionaire count to 58 million in 2025
UBS said markets helped create nearly 1 million millionaires last year, with the United States accounting for about 441,000 of them.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
Rising markets helped add nearly 1 million people to the world’s millionaire ranks in 2025, according to UBS. The Swiss bank said the increase pushed the global millionaire population to 58 million, highlighting how market exposure shaped wealth gains last year.
UBS said the United States contributed close to half of the increase, adding about 441,000 millionaires over the year. That worked out to more than 1,200 people a day crossing the $1 million threshold, according to the bank’s estimate.
Global personal wealth rose 10.8% in 2025, UBS said, marking the strongest annual gain since 2017. The bank said that pace was more than twice the growth rate recorded in both 2024 and 2023.
The gains were uneven, according to UBS. The bank said median wealth fell in most of the 56 markets it tracked, even as total wealth increased, a split that pointed to a widening gap between wealthier households and the broader population.
U.S. wealth gains were concentrated
In the United States, UBS said median wealth per adult declined by nearly 20% from 2020 through 2025 after adjusting for inflation. Average wealth per adult rose by about 10% over the same period, according to the bank’s analysis.
UBS estimated that millionaires hold nearly half of global wealth, or about $250.6 trillion. The bank said more than 40% of the world’s millionaires live in the United States, amounting to almost 24 million people.
James Mazeau, an economist at UBS, told CNBC that people with higher net worth benefited more because their assets tend to be tied more closely to financial markets. Mazeau said the U.S. stock market rose about 18% in 2025, which helped lift investment portfolios.
UBS said wealth gains also differed within the millionaire category. The bank estimated that people worth $1 million to $5 million, a group it called “everyday millionaires,” have seen their combined assets rise 170% since 2000 after inflation.
Richer millionaires did better over that span, according to UBS. The bank said the combined wealth of millionaires above that $1 million to $5 million range rose 343% after inflation since 2000.
Currency moves affected regional results
UBS said billionaires’ combined net worth rose nearly 25% in the year ending in April. The bank said that increase reflected a larger number of billionaires as well as gains among existing billionaires.
The U.S. dollar’s decline in 2025 also affected the results because UBS measures wealth in dollars. The bank said the U.S. millionaire population still remained the world’s largest, though it grew by 1.9% last year.
UBS said several European and Middle Eastern markets posted faster percentage increases in millionaire counts, including Turkey at 6.4% and the United Arab Emirates at 3.5%. By region, UBS estimated personal wealth rose 8.5% in the Americas, 5.9% in Asia-Pacific and 17.5% across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Mazeau told CNBC it was too early to assess how the Iran war would affect high-net-worth investors in the Middle East. He said the outcome would depend partly on how much wealth investors hold in international assets, which currencies those assets use and whether investors change their portfolios in response to the conflict.
This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.