Where The Density Of Super-Rich Individuals Is Highest

Last year, the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals around the world climbed 0.8 percent to 265,490, according to a Wealth-X analysis published last week. As it has in previous years, the United States had the highest super-rich population out of any country by far with 81,340 UHNWIs. China came a distant second with 24,965 while Japan was third with 17,855. When it comes to the number of super-rich individuals as a share of the population, however, things look very different indeed.

The analysis found that Hong Kong has an extremely high UHNWI density thanks to its status as a global financial hub, its proximity and trading links with China, along with close ties with both the U.S. and EU. Hong Kong has 1,364 super-wealthy individuals per million of its population last year while Switzerland and Luxembourg had 848 and 699 per million people respectively. The top-five was rounded off by Singapore with 530 and Ireland with 421 per million people.

Even though the U.S. is the dominant country for the super-rich, accounting for 31 percent of the total global UHNWI population, it only comes 10th in the density league with 306 per million of its inhabitants. That's just behind Denmark with 334 and Canada's 324.