How much the world’s super wealthy are worth
Less than half a percent of the world’s adult population – some 16.6 million individuals – have over 33% of the world’s total wealth, totalling US$77 trillion.
This is one of the findings of the annual Ultra Wealth Report, compiled by Wealth-X and UBS World.
As of 2014, Wealth-X tracked over 211,275 Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (UHNWIs) worth US$29.7 trillion – up from 199,235 individuals in 2013, worth US$27.77 trillion.
UHNWIs are defined as people with a net worth over US$30 million, and in 2014 represented a miniscule 0.004% of the total global adult population of 4.9 billion people.
Dollar millionaires and billionaires make up a total 0.33% of the world’s population, with the US$1 million – US$4.9 million bracket representing the greatest portion, with 14.9 million people.
| Wealth tier |
Share of population |
Adult population |
Share of wealth |
Wealth (US$ trillion) |
Average wealth per person |
| US$30 million+ | 0.004% | 211,275 | 12.8% | 29.7 | $140 million |
| US$10 million – US$29 million | 0.01% | 682,775 | 6.4% | 14.9 | $21.8 million |
| US$5 million – US$9.9 million | 0.02% | 835,950 | 2.7% | 6.2 | $7.4 million |
| US$1 million – US$4.9 million | 0.3% | 14,930,000 | 11.3% | 26.2 | $1.75 million |
| US$100,000 – US$999,000 | 7.5% | 336,340,000 | 45.3% | 105.4 | $313,373 |
| US$10,000 – US$99,000 | 25.8% | 1,265,000,000 | 15.6% | 36.3 | $28,695 |
| Under US$10,000 | 66.3% | 3,248,000,000 | 5.9% | 13.8 | $4,248 |
| Total | 100.0% | 4,896,000,000 | 100.0% | 232.5 | $47,487 |
The largest portion of the adult world earn under $10,000, Wealth-X found, with 3.25 billion people falling into that range, worth only US$13.8 trillion.
To highlight the disparity, the average UHNWI is worth US$140.6 million in the smallest bracket, with the average person in the largest bracket worth only US$4,248.
The global average is US$47,487 according to Wealth-X’s data.
UHNWI breakdown 2014
| Wealth tier |
UHNW population |
UHNW wealth (US$ billion) |
Population change | Wealth change |
| US$1 billion+ | 2,325 | 7,291 | 7.1% | 11.9% |
| US$750 million – US$999 million | 1,295 | 1,075 | 19.9% | 15.7% |
| US$500 million – US$749 million | 3,590 | 2,464 | 14.9% | 12.6% |
| US$250 million – US$499 million | 9,335 | 3,530 | 7.4% | 3.2% |
| US$200 million – US$249 million | 14,580 | 3,170 | 6.3% | 4.9% |
| US$100 million – US$199 million | 25,400 | 3,660 | 6.6% | 5.5% |
| US$50 million – US$99 million | 63,120 | 4,775 | 3.9% | 1.2% |
| US$30 million – US$49 million | 91,630 | 3,760 | 6.7% | 7.3% |
| Total | 211,275 | 29,725 | 6.0% | 7.0% |
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