Nearly one million people worldwide became millionaires in 2025

[ZURICH] Personal wealth in 2025 grew at its fastest pace in years, creating nearly one million new US dollar millionaires worldwide, Swiss bank UBS said in its annual Global Wealth Report published on Tuesday (Jun 30).

Total personal wealth globally rose by 10.8 per cent last year, up from 4.6 per cent in 2024 and 4.2 per cent in 2023, as strong financial markets boosted growth, UBS found.

There were “more millionaires than ever, everywhere” in 2025, the bank said. The United States, where over 440,000 people became new US dollar millionaires, accounted for almost half of this growth.

Wealth in US dollar terms grew disproportionately quickly in Europe, largely due to last year’s depreciation of the dollar compared to the euro, UBS found.

While average wealth rose, inequality has deepened since 2020, UBS said. Median wealth, which better reflects the middle of the scale, declined in most countries, highlighting a growing divide between the wealthiest and the broader population, the bank added.

For the report, UBS analysed 56 markets it estimates to represent over 92 per cent of the world’s wealth. REUTERS