3.5 million people lose their millionaire status, global wealth shrinks report | Annual | Global
The annual wealth report released by UBS shows that the number of millionaires worldwide has decreased from 62.9 million at the end of 2021 to 59.4 million at the end of 2022. Bloomberg's survey also shows that the Fortune Global 500's assets have shrunk by a total of $1.4 trillion in 2022.
Last year, over 3.5 million people lost their millionaire status, marking the first time global wealth has shrunk since the 2008 financial crisis.
The annual wealth report released by UBS on August 15th shows that the number of adults with assets exceeding $1 million has decreased from 62.9 million at the end of 2021 to 59.4 million at the end of 2022. UBS claims that the global wealth decline is due to high inflation and the depreciation of many currencies against the US dollar.
There are currently 22.7 million millionaires in the United States, a decrease of 1.8 million, but the number of millionaires in the United States still far exceeds that of other countries. The number of millionaires in China is 6.2 million, ranking second in the world.
Despite a decline in the number of millionaires, the report found that the number of people with assets worth millions of dollars is four times higher than at the beginning of this century.
The number of millionaires in the UK is 2.6 million, a decrease of 440000, ranking third in decline, only behind Japan. The number of millionaires in Japan has decreased from 3.2 million to 2.6 million. Australia ranks fourth in the decline in the number of millionaires, with a total of 1.8 million, a decrease of 360000.
In the wealthiest class, the number of millionaires with assets exceeding $50 million decreased to 243000, a decrease of 22500 people.
According to an independent survey by Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the world's richest 500 companies saw a total asset decline of $1.4 trillion in 2022.
Elon Musk, the world's richest man and co-founder of Tesla, lost $138 billion in 2022, and completed a $44 billion Twitter acquisition in the same year.
Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg was once one of the 10 wealthiest people in the world, with a net worth of $45 billion at the end of 2022, a decrease of nearly $81 billion.
Economists from UBS pointed out that in 2022, the total wealth of super rich, wealthy individuals, and poor people all experienced a decline, marking the first decrease in net wealth of global households since the 2008 global financial crisis.
Global private wealth has dropped to $454 trillion, a decrease of $11.3 trillion. The per capita wealth of adults has decreased to $84718, a decrease of $3200. The bank said, "This result represents an interruption in the uninterrupted expansion of household wealth since the beginning of this century."
The bank pointed out that due to the soaring global inflation, the feeling of shrinking wealth in real life is even stronger. The sharp increase in living costs, from food to energy, has put a strain on household finances.
The proportion of wealth owned by the world's wealthiest 1% of people is 44.5%, slightly lower than before, reversing the trend of widening wealth inequality during the pandemic. To become the wealthiest 1% in the world, one must have at least $1081342 in assets.