The ranks of the super-rich swelled in 2021, with the number of people worth over $100mn increasing by 21 per cent to 84,500, according to the latest Credit Suisse Global wealth report.
The US gained 30,000 ultra-high-net-worth individuals followed by China with an additional 5,200 members.
UHNW numbers increased by more than a thousand in Germany, Canada and Australia.
The report, which was published on Tuesday, said that reductions in ultra-high net worth individuals were rare, with the UK posting the largest fall of 1,130 members.
Anthony Shorrocks, economist and report author said that the few losses of wealth were “almost always associated with currency depreciation against the US dollar.”
He added that analysis of median wealth within countries and across the world shows that global wealth inequality has fallen this century due to faster growth achieved in emerging markets.
However, global wealth inequality rose during the pandemic.
Aggregate global wealth totalled $463.6tn at the end of last year, a rise of $41.5tn or 9.8 per cent.
Accounting for inflation, total wealth rose by 8.2 per cent, according to the report as a result of “the widespread and sizeable gains in share prices.”
Credit Suisse warned that worldwide inflation and the Russia-Ukraine war will likely hamper real wealth creation over the next few years.
Nannette Hechler-Fayd’herbe, global head of economics and research at Credit Suisse, said: “Some reversal of the exceptional wealth gains of 2021 is likely . . . as several countries face slower growth or even recession.”
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