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Where the World’s Ultra Rich Population Lives

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Where the World's Ultra Rich Population Lives

Where the World’s Ultra Rich Population Lives

We’ve recently broken down data on the global population of millionaires by city, and even the residences of the world’s top 50 billionaires.

But still, there’s something extremely interesting about dissecting the lifestyles of the ultra rich – particularly in looking at where they live, and also how they tend to migrate when local conditions are not conducive to wealth-building or the safety of their fortunes and families.

Ultra Rich: By Region

Today’s infographic comes to us from HowMuch.net, and it breaks down the population of ultra high net worth individuals that have personal wealth levels exceeding the $500 million mark. It uses information from the 2018 edition of the Knight Frank Wealth Report.

First, we’ll look at these totals on a regional level:

RegionPopulation (>$500M wealth)% of Global Pop
North America2,10031.8%
Asia1,86028.1%
Europe1,68025.4%
Middle East2804.2%
Latin America & Caribbean2804.2%
Russia & CIS2203.3%
Africa1201.8%
Australasia701.1%
6,610100.0%

As you can see, the vast amount of half-billionaires are located in North America (31.8%), Asia (28.1%), and Europe (25.4%). That means that fewer than 15% of these ultra rich live in the Middle East, Australasia, Russia & CIS, Latin America, and Africa combined.

Ultra Rich: By Country

Now, we’ll look at the 14 countries that have greater than 100 ultra rich people (>$500 million) as residents:

RankCountryRegionPopulation (>$500M wealth)
#1United StatesNorth America1,830
#2China (Mainland)Asia490
#3GermanyEurope430
#4JapanAsia390
#5Hong KongAsia320
#6CanadaNorth America270
#7SwitzerlandEurope250
#8FranceEurope230
#9Russia & CISRussia & CIS220
#10United KingdomEurope220
#11IndiaAsia200
#12ItalyEurope160
#13BrazilLatin America130
#14Saudi ArabiaMiddle East120

Note: this list excludes second-home owners.

Sitting at the top of the list is the United States with 1,830 people that hold fortunes larger than $500 million. That’s equal to roughly 28% of the global half-billionaire population.

Following the U.S. is China, which counts 810 people as having a wealth over $500 million. These numbers are broken down into Mainland China and Hong Kong on the graph and table, because they were tallied using different sources.

Canada tallies surprisingly high here – the country only ranks #10 globally based on its number of (billionaires), but ranks #6 in terms of half-billionaires with 270 in total.

Lastly, it should be noted that just missing the cut-off on the above list were Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore, three Asian countries that tied with 100 half-billionaires each.

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Central Banks

Charted: Public Trust in the Federal Reserve

Public trust in the Federal Reserve chair has hit its lowest point in 20 years. Get the details in this infographic.

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The Briefing

  • Gallup conducts an annual poll to gauge the U.S. public’s trust in the Federal Reserve
  • After rising during the COVID-19 pandemic, public trust has fallen to a 20-year low

 

Charted: Public Trust in the Federal Reserve

Each year, Gallup conducts a survey of American adults on various economic topics, including the country’s central bank, the Federal Reserve.

More specifically, respondents are asked how much confidence they have in the current Fed chairman to do or recommend the right thing for the U.S. economy. We’ve visualized these results from 2001 to 2023 to see how confidence levels have changed over time.

Methodology and Results

The data used in this infographic is also listed in the table below. Percentages reflect the share of respondents that have either a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence.

YearFed chair% Great deal or Fair amount
2023Jerome Powell36%
2022Jerome Powell43%
2021Jerome Powell55%
2020Jerome Powell58%
2019Jerome Powell50%
2018Jerome Powell45%
2017Janet Yellen45%
2016Janet Yellen38%
2015Janet Yellen42%
2014Janet Yellen37%
2013Ben Bernanke42%
2012Ben Bernanke39%
2011Ben Bernanke41%
2010Ben Bernanke44%
2009Ben Bernanke49%
2008Ben Bernanke47%
2007Ben Bernanke50%
2006Ben Bernanke41%
2005Alan Greenspan56%
2004Alan Greenspan61%
2003Alan Greenspan65%
2002Alan Greenspan69%
2001Alan Greenspan74%

Data for 2023 collected April 3-25, with this statement put to respondents: “Please tell me how much confidence you have [in the Fed chair] to recommend the right thing for the economy.”

We can see that trust in the Federal Reserve has fluctuated significantly in recent years.

For example, under Alan Greenspan, trust was initially high due to the relative stability of the economy. The burst of the dotcom bubble—which some attribute to Greenspan’s easy credit policies—resulted in a sharp decline.

On the flip side, public confidence spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was likely due to Jerome Powell’s decisive actions to provide support to the U.S. economy throughout the crisis.

Measures implemented by the Fed include bringing interest rates to near zero, quantitative easing (buying government bonds with newly-printed money), and emergency lending programs to businesses.

Confidence Now on the Decline

After peaking at 58%, those with a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in the Fed chair have tumbled to 36%, the lowest number in 20 years.

This is likely due to Powell’s hard stance on fighting post-pandemic inflation, which has involved raising interest rates at an incredible speed. While these rate hikes may be necessary, they also have many adverse effects:

  • Negative impact on the stock market
  • Increases the burden for those with variable-rate debts
  • Makes mortgages and home buying less affordable

Higher rates have also prompted many U.S. tech companies to shrink their workforces, and have been a factor in the regional banking crisis, including the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

Where does this data come from?

Source: Gallup (2023)

Data Notes: Results are based on telephone interviews conducted April 3-25, 2023, with a random sample of –1,013—adults, ages 18+, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on this sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. See source for details.

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