Global personal wealth grew at its fastest pace in several years during 2025, creating nearly one million new US-dollar millionaires worldwide. The increase was driven by strong financial markets, rising asset prices, and higher valuations of financial and real estate holdings. The trend affected households across major economies while highlighting widening wealth gaps.
According to the UBS Global Wealth Report 2026, total personal wealth increased by 10.8 percent in 2025. That was more than double the 4.6 percent growth recorded in 2024 and well above the 4.2 percent increase seen in 2023. UBS said there were “more millionaires than ever, everywhere” during the year.
The United States accounted for nearly half of all newly created millionaires. More than 440,000 Americans joined the ranks of US-dollar millionaires in 2025, reflecting strong gains in financial markets and asset values. Wealth measured in US-dollar terms also rose sharply across Europe, helped by the depreciation of the dollar against the euro.
However, UBS said the benefits of rising wealth were not evenly distributed. While average wealth continued to increase, median wealth — a better measure of the financial position of a typical household — declined in many countries. The report said much of the wealth growth was concentrated among higher-income households, suggesting that wealth inequality has continued to deepen since the COVID-19 pandemic.
UBS analyzed household wealth across 56 markets representing more than 92 percent of global wealth. The bank said global wealth is expected to keep growing, although the pace will depend on economic conditions, inflation, interest rates, financial markets, and geopolitical developments. UBS also said demographic shifts and a massive intergenerational transfer of wealth are likely to reshape the global distribution of wealth in the coming decades.