According to The Wealth Report, the annual report by Knight Frank, Quintela e Penalva's partner in Portugal since 2021), the number of high-net-worth individuals increased by more than 4% in 2024, rising from 2,243,300 to 2,341,378 individuals.

All regions of the globe recorded an increase, but it was North America that led this growth, with more than 5.2% of billionaires. Asia recorded the second largest increase at 5%, followed by Africa at 4.7%. Australasia (3.9%), the Middle East (2.7%), Latin America (1.5%) and Europe came in fifth with 1.4% more multimillionaires last year.

Liam Bailey, global head of multinational real estate research firm Knight Frank, explains why: “While the global economy has slowed in 2024, the resilience of the US has helped boost investor confidence. Trends driving wealth creation, including the growth of financial markets led by stock markets and the bitcoin bull run, continued. And despite geopolitical tensions, the resilience of global trade contributed to this growth.”

Thus, for the first time, the population of individuals with assets of at least 100 million dollars surpassed, for the first time, the mark of 100,000 individuals.

Centres of Wealth

Nearly 40 percent of the world's ultra-wealthy individuals live in the United States, compared with 20 percent in its closest rival, China. Japan is the only other nation to boast a percentage of wealthy individuals exceeding 5%.

So perhaps it’s no surprise that the US led the world in wealth creation in 2024 with a 5.2% expansion in its HNWI population. Asia was close behind with growth of 5%, followed by Africa, which recorded an increase of 4.7%, albeit from a much lower base.

Australasia’s HNWI population increased by 3.9%, helped by its access to Asian and North American markets. The population of individuals worth at least $10 million in the Middle East increased by 2.7% last year, placing the region in fifth place.

Many of the largest economies in this region of the globe, notably Saudi Arabia, are trying to diversify their activity beyond oil and gas, investing heavily in tourism and hospitality, technology and innovation, biotechnology and renewable energy.