More Millionaires Than Ever in the United States

The United States continues to dominate the worldwide millionaire population by a considerable distance. The amount of high net worth individuals or HNWIs (with investable assets of US$1 million or more) grew from just over three million in 2011 to approximately 3.4 million in 2012. This represents an impressive 12 percent increase.

Japan is the second most populous country for millionaires, with a grand total of 1.9 million – a 4.4 percent increase on 2011’s figure of 1.8 million. The population of HNWIs in Germany broke the million mark in 2012 – Europe’s economic powerhouse has the third largest population of millionaires worldwide.

Due to its meteoric economic rise, China has a strong presence in the millionaire’s club. A total of 562,000 millionaires lived in China in 2011, a figure that soared to 643,000 by the end of 2012. The United Kingdom, France, Canada, Switzerland, Australia and Italy all have substantial populations of millionaires, though these countries still have a long way to go in terms of matching the United States.

Perhaps most interesting is the fact that the amount of millionaires is increasing steadily year by year despite the global financial crisis. Australia had the fastest growth rate between 2011 and 2012, 15.1 percent, closely followed by China with a growth rate of 14.3 percent.

The days of plenty certainly do not seem to be numbered for the global millionaire’s club. On the contrary, the doors are wide open and numbers are increasing, a fact somewhat at odds with the world’s current financial landscape.