There are now 2,325 billionaires in the world
Howard Lake | 17 September 2014 | News
This year 155 people have moved into the billionaire bracket, meaning that the global billionaire population has now reach 2,325, the largest number to date, and a 7% rise in the number of billionaires since 2013.
The figures were produced by the Wealth-X and UBS Billionaire Census 2014.
The total wealth of these billionaires increased by 12% to US$7.3 trillion. Wealth-X points out that this is greater than the combined market capitalisation of all the companies that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
The average billionaire‘s wealth rose by 4.4% this year to just over $3.1 billion.
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Billionaire growth by region
Europe has overtaken North America as the region both with the largest number of billionaires (775) and the greatest combined wealth ($2.37 trillion).
Asia is where total billionaire wealth has increased the most. Overall, the region’s billionaires’ fortunes grew by 18.7% over the past year. There were 52 new billionaires in Asia in 2014, of which 33 come from China.
The largest growth in the number of billionaires took place in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a 37.8% increase in 2014.
Meanwhile, the billionaire population in the Middle East shrank by 1.9%, even though total billionaire wealth in the region rose by 16.7%. Similarly the number of Africa’s billionaires decreased by 4.8%, but the region’s billionaire wealth increased by 12.9%.
Most billionaires by country
The countries with the most billionaires are:
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- USA: 571
- China: 190
- UK: 130
- Germany: 123
Billionaires by gender
There are 2,039 male billionaires in 2014, with combined wealth of $7.3 trillion (87.7% of the world’s total billionaire wealth), and 286 female billionaires, with a combined 12.3% share of global billionaire wealth.
The average age of the billionaires researched is 63, one year older than the average in 2013.
About the research
The census tracked the global billionaire population from July 2013 to June 2014. It looked at top-tier wealth segments by geographical location, gender, sources of wealth and personal traits.
Simon Smiles, CIO for UHNW, UBS Wealth Management, said:
“UBS has served some of the world’s most successful families for more than 150 years and, today, more than half of the world’s billionaires are clients. The second Wealth-X and UBS Billionaire Census is the most comprehensive study of its kind and provides unparalleled insights into this sophisticated and global client segment. Its findings, for example, that billionaires increased their liquid holdings last year and that entrepreneurialism is key to their wealth, correspond with the feedback from discussions with our clients”.
You can download the Wealth-X and UBS Billionaire Census 2014 report.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.