How Many Millionaires Are There in the World? 15+ Captivating Millionaire Statistics

Updated · May 20, 2023

Becoming a millionaire is now easier than ever.

The same goes for starting a business and learning a new set of skills. What’s more, if you take all these elements together and add in a solid idea, perhaps you could also join the most prestigious club in the world.

Given how many millionaires in the world there are now, your coming here is surely no coincidence. Everybody would like to know the juicy details and evaluate their own chances.

If that sounds like you, stick with us, and you’ll learn all the essential info on millionaires (and billionaires) worldwide! Let’s start with some:

Engrossing Statistics About Millionaires (Editor’s Choice):

  • The number of millionaires in the world is 56,083,830.
  • More than 1% of all adults in the world are millionaires.
  • There were 21,951,202 US millionaires in 2021.
  • 8.7% of adult Americans are millionaires.
  • The Forbes billionaires list reveals there are 2,668 of them worldwide. 735 are American.
  • On average, people become millionaires at age 37.
  • 88% of millionaires are self-made.
  • Switzerland has the most millionaires per capita.
  • 86 billionaires are less than 40 years old.

How Many Millionaires Are There in the World?

The numbers include both millionaires and billionaires. Care to guess how many of them are there?

1. There are over 56 million millionaires in the entire world.

(Source: Credit Suisse)

We’ll get straight to the point—there are 56,083,830 millionaires in the world.

What’s interesting is that now that there are so many of them, it’s slowly ceasing to be a big deal. The number constantly rises, even to the point where the meaning of being wealthy changes. This leads to people needing more and more finances to be considered rich in the first place.

Time for another exciting stat:

2. For the first time in history—in 2021, more than 1% of all the world’s adults are millionaires.

(Source: Quartz)

Another way to realize just how many people are millionaires now. The numbers are so huge that calling the wealthiest group “the 1%” is now misleading.

That’s probably closely connected to how many millionaires there are in the US. Their numbers keep rising at an alarming rate, improving the worldwide wealth status.

3. You need household assets worth at least $6.47 million to be in the 1% now.

(Source: McKinsey & Company)

Let’s detour a bit from the subject at hand, the one you’re all interested in—just how many millionaires there are in the world. Don’t worry, that’s still something worth talking about. Some time ago, you’d probably need a net worth of $1 million or more to be in the top percentile. Currently, it’d leave you only in the top decile.

If you’d like to be in the top half percentile, you’d need household assets worth $10.28 million. The 99.9th percentile is reserved for those with $27.8 million worth of assets.

4. A person or household with a net worth of $2 million or more reaches the 95th percentile.

(Source: McKinsey & Company)

If you’ve always wanted to stand out with a millionaire status, you’ll love to hear this. At a $2 million net worth rank, you’re wealthier than (or equally wealthy as) 95% of the world’s population. Don’t fret—most people will never reach such crazy amounts of riches.

5. According to Forbes, there are 2,668 billionaires in the world.

(Source: Forbes)

You now know everything about millionaires’ count. But do you have an idea how many billionaires are there in the world?

Forbes Annual World’s Billionaires list is the source to go to. The 36th edition reveals that 329 fell out of the prestigious group—that’s the most significant loss since 2009. Though, the good news is that 236 people hopped in the category at the same time.

These past few years have been crazy for everyone financial-wise. Yet despite that, almost half of all billionaires managed to get even wealthier in the past year.

How Many Millionaires Are There in the US?

You probably know (and if you don’t, you’ll figure it out soon enough) that the United States is millionaire heaven. There are so many of them that it’s easy to lose count.

6. The 2021 number of millionaires in the US was 21,951,202.

(Source: Credit Suisse)

Out of all the countries in the world, the United States has by far the most millionaires. Not all that surprising, given the possibilities, economy, and work ethics here.

Guess the American dream is real after all.

7. 8.7% of adult US residents are millionaires.

(Source: Credit Suisse)

What percentage of Americans are millionaires? Let’s level the playing field by counting only the adults first. If we divide the number of US millionaires by the number of adult Americans, we will end up with 8.7%.

If we were to include minors as well, the percentage would fall only to 6.6%. So we can conclude that if you’re living in the US, chances are you know at least one millionaire. The funny thing is that perhaps you have an acquaintance or two that you don’t know are millionaires.

8. As of April 2022, there are 735 billionaires in the US.

(Source: Forbes)

If you’ve been wondering how many billionaires there are in the United States, we got you. Currently, there are 735 billionaires, up from 724 in 2021. Once again, America has the most of them.

Their collective net worth is $4.7 trillion. Combined, this also makes them the wealthiest billionaires by country.

9. Over eight million US households have a $2 million or more net worth.

(Source: DQYDJ)

America is undoubtedly creating millionaires… fast. If your household is worth $2 million or more, now it’s not as big of a feat as it used to be. It would put you in the top 8,046,080 American families.

We could arguably say this is how many multimillionaires there are in the US. This daunting challenge might have become easier, but that doesn’t make it any less impressive.

10. If your household is worth $3 million or more, it’s probably one of the 5,671,005 such US households.

(Source: DQYDJ)

The number significantly decreases if you’re a million dollars more worthy.

A US household is between the 95th and 96th percentile with a $3 million net worth. To be even more precise, 4.41% of American households are worth at least this much.

11. In 2013, 76% of US millionaires were white.

(Source: Statista)

Unfortunately, there’s no reliable way to tell how many black millionaires there are in America in 2022. Statista’s 2013 research is still the closest thing to an answer we have. According to their data, 8% of American millionaires were African American, another 8% were Asian, and 7%—Hispanic.

There’s still no public data on the number of millionaires by race in 2022. However, as soon as we get a hold of some, we’ll let you know.

12. 88.12% of US millionaires are men.

(Source: Statista)

It may be hard to believe (or not), but it’s unfortunately true. The majority of American millionaires are indeed men. So the answer to “How many of the millionaires in the US are women?” would be “Sadly, only 11.88%.” Let’s hope our world will change for the better in the future.

Millionaires Demographics

One would think that there would be many demographic statistics regarding extremely wealthy people. One would be wrong. Still, let’s see what data we’ve managed to gather:

13. 88% of millionaires are self-made.

(Source: US News)

It’s a widespread myth that most millionaires inherit an enormous amount of money. That is far from the truth. The proof lies in the answer to the question, “What percentage of millionaires are self-made?”

In 2017, a staggering 88% of them were. With so many businesses making so much money, chances are this percentage is even more significant now. Let’s not forget about blockchain—the technology is currently one of the biggest millionaire-makers to exist!

14. 86 billionaires are younger than 40.

(Source: Forbes)

If you’re in need of a motivational success story, search no further. Just look at how many young billionaires there are in the world...

More and more people are now getting extremely wealthy at a younger age. That’s usually because of a great business idea, monumental heritage, sometimes luck, or even blockchain. The latter has already produced 19 billionaires, one of them even under 30 years old.

15. The average new millionaire age is now 37.

(Source: Blankinship & Foster)

If you’re not a millionaire yet, but would like to become one, take notes. The average age at which a person becomes a millionaire is currently 37. Considering how many young millionaires there are and that a large part of them are entrepreneurs, the number may go even lower.

The average age for becoming a billionaire is 51. As you can see, patience is key. Add some hard work, luck, and breakthrough ideas to the mix, and you’re hopefully good to go.

Number Of Millionaires by Country

Naturally, America isn’t the only place with so many millionaires.

Let’s check out its competition:

16. Switzerland has the most millionaires per capita.

(Source: Credit Suisse)

We already know what country has the most millionaires overall. But what happens when we consider the data per capita? In this regard, the US falls short… a lot.

This prestigious title goes to Switzerland, as an enviable 14.9% of its citizens are millionaires! America is not even the second country with the most millionaires per capita—it’s actually Australia with 9.4%. The States are tied for third place with Luxembourg—both at 8.8%.

17. The second country with the most millionaires overall is China.

(Source: Credit Suisse)

So how many millionaires are there in China? In 2021, there were 5,279,467 of them. That might be far from first place, but it’s way ahead of the rest of the world.

Japan ranked third with 3,662,407 millionaires. Germany is fourth, while the United Kingdom and France are nearly tied in fifth and sixth place.

These six countries are the only ones with over two million millionaires. Other than that, only seven additional ones have more than a million of them.

Wrap Up

We hope you use all this newfound knowledge as an incentive. Now that you know just how many millionaires are in the world and much more exciting details about their prestigious club, would you say you have what it takes to become a part of it?

While it’s not exactly easy, it’s certainly more accessible than before.

Still, whatever it is, you need to roll your sleeves and get to work first. So close this tab and start brainstorming new business ideas. Best of luck!

Share:
Aleksandra Yosifova
Aleksandra Yosifova

With an eye for research, Aleksandra is determined to always get to the bottom of things. If there’s a glitch in the system, she’ll find it and make sure you know about it.