The annual Knight Frank Wealth Report (2023 Edition) has published yet another breakdown of what it takes to be considered a top 1% earner around the world.
The most fascinating takeaways? 1. While it’s still a moonshot for most, the minimum threshold is surprisingly achievable here in Australia, and 2. the population of ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWI) has actually shrunk.
“While the world’s UHNWI population contracted last year, the number of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) expanded by 2.9% to number almost 70 million worldwide,” explained the report.
RELATED: What It Takes To Be A Top 1% Earner Around The World (Annual Salary)
“Only Europe as a region saw HNWI numbers dwindle. The number of billionaires meanwhile declined by 5% to 2,629.”
That being said, the figure is projected to rebound.
Knight Frank added: “Over the next five years we forecast that the global UHNWI population will expand by 28.5% to almost threequarters of a million from 579,625 in 2022. This expansion marks a slowdown from the 44% growth seen in the 2017 to 2022 period. The number of HNWIs will also surpass 100 million over the next five years, growing by 56.9%.
Similar to previous years, Monaco has remained the most unobtainable with a minimum threshold of US$12.4 million (AU$19 million), followed not-so-closely by “the home of the private bank,” Switzerland, at US$6.6 million (AU$10.1 million), Australia at US$5.5 million (AU$8.5 million), New Zealand at US$5.2 million (AU$8 million), and so forth.
Check out the full breakdown of select countries + territories below.
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Top 1% Earners (Global)
**All figures converted to USD
Net worth threshold comparison
- Monaco: $12.4 million
- Switzerland: $6.6 million
- Australia: $5.5 million
- New Zealand: $5.2 million
- US: $5.1 million
- Ireland: $4.3 million
- Singapore: $3.5 million
- France: $3.5 million
- Hong Kong: $3.4 million
- UK: $3.3 million
- Italy: $2.6 million
- Spain: $2.5 million
- Japan: $1.7 million
- UAE: $1.6 million
- China: $960,000
- Czech Republic: $880,000
- Saudi Arabia: $740,000
- Romania: $587,000
- Malaysia: $485,000
- Brazil: $433,000
- Mexico: $383,000
- India: $175,000
- South Africa: $109,000
- Philippines: $57,000
- Kenya: $20,000
Additional insights
- The Middle East was a regional stand out with 16.9% UHNWI growth, buoyed by the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which saw stellar economic and property market performance
- Asia was home to three of the Top 10 fastest-growing wealth hubs, with Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore seeing their wealthy populations expand by 7-9%, this comes despite the wider region experiencing a 6.5% decline
- Among the Top 10 are the world’s two most populous countries, with India expected to see a 58.4% rise in its UHNWI population, a faster rate than in the previous five years; the Chinese mainland is forecast to see a 49.8% climb, a slowing from the 99.6%
