Global personal wealth recorded its strongest growth in years during 2025, with nearly one million people becoming new US dollar millionaires, according to the latest Global Wealth Report released by Swiss bank UBS on Tuesday. Strong performance in financial markets and rising asset values helped push wealth higher across many countries.
The total personal wealth around the world increased by 10.8% in 2025, reported news agency Reuters citing Global Wealth data. This marked an improvement from the 4.6% growth recorded in 2024 and 4.2% in 2023. The pace of wealth creation accelerated as stock markets performed well and financial assets gained value.
UBS said the world now has more US dollar millionaires than ever before. The report said, “There were more millionaires than ever, everywhere.” It added that almost one million people crossed the millionaire mark during the year.
The United States accounted for the biggest share of this increase. More than 440,000 Americans became new US dollar millionaires in 2025, reported Reuters citing Global Wealth data. That means nearly half of all new millionaires worldwide came from the United States alone.
Why did global wealth rise sharply?
UBS said strong financial markets played the biggest role in boosting wealth during the year. Rising prices of financial assets helped increase the value of investments owned by households across many countries, reported Reuters.
The report also found that wealth measured in US dollar terms rose especially fast in Europe. This happened mainly because the US dollar weakened against the euro during the year. As a result, wealth held in European currencies appeared larger when converted into US dollars.
The report covered 56 markets across the world. UBS said these markets represent more than 92% of global wealth, making the study one of the broadest assessments of personal wealth trends worldwide, reported Reuters.
Has wealth growth benefited everyone equally?
While average wealth increased across the world, UBS said the gains did not reach everyone equally. The report found that wealth inequality has widened since 2020.
It said median wealth, which reflects the financial position of the person in the middle of the wealth distribution, fell in most countries. This suggests that many households did not experience the same level of wealth growth as richer individuals.
The report said the difference between average wealth and median wealth points to a growing gap between the richest people and the rest of the population. While many high-net-worth individuals saw their assets grow sharply, a large share of people did not benefit to the same extent.
UBS said the data shows that wealth creation remained strong at the top of the income ladder even as many countries continued to face uneven economic conditions. The report suggests that rising asset prices have helped create more millionaires, but they have also widened the divide between the wealthiest households and the broader population.
