Billionaire Leading Countries
- United States (705 billionaires)
- China (285)
- Germany (146)
- Russia (102)
- United Kingdom (97)
- Switzerland (91)
- Hong Kong (87)
- India (82)
- Saudi Arabia (57)
- France (55)
- United Arab Emirates (55)
- Brazil (49)
- Italy (47)
- Canada (45)
- Singapore (39)
After reaching record levels the previous year, global billionaire wealth in 2018 declined by 7 percent to $8.6 trillion, while the billionaire population fell by 5.4 percent to 2,604, with those in APAC suffering the most, according to the 2019 edition of Billionaire Census, published by global ultra high net worth intelligence and data company Wealth X.
This fall in wealth was largely caused by a slowdown in global growth, persistent trade tensions and a slump in equity markets, the report said.The findings of the report, which has been published annually since 2013, were based on Wealth-X’s global database of more than 1 million records on the world’s wealthiest individuals.
The report noted that apart from the U.S., U.K., Russia, and France, nearly all of the top 15 countries by billionaire population saw a decline. Asia-Pacific’s billionaire population fell by 13.4 percent, driven by large declines in China, India, and Singapore.
The region also saw the largest decline in billionaire wealth – billionaires here saw their net worth fall by an average of 9 percent, compared to 7 percent in EMEA and 6 percent in the Americas. The report attributed this to three factors: weak equity market performance on the back of slowing growth, tariff disputes, and emerging market volatility.
To further understand the implications of this decline, the Billionaire Census 2019 CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD uncovers numerous trends among this exclusive population, including
- North America was the only region to record an increase in billionaire population – Asia-Pacific, which led billionaire growth in 2017, posted the largest decline in 2018 (13.4%).
- San Francisco has significantly more billionaires per inhabitant than any other top city – with one billionaire for approximately every 11,600 residents. New York, Dubai and Hong Kong follow in 2nd to 4th place respectively.
- Billionaires are increasingly congregating in a cluster of cities – the top 15 billionaire cities accounted for almost 30% of the global billionaire population in 2018.
- Nearly all of the top 15 countries by billionaire population saw a decline – except the US and three European countries: the UK, Russia, and France.
- Philanthropy is the leading passion or hobby among billionaires – the not-for-profit sector accounts as a primary industry for 4.8% of billionaires; once they have consolidated their fortunes, many billionaires make the full-time transition toward building a philanthropic legacy
Credit Wealth X , RetailNews Asia
