Global personal wealth grew by 10.8% in dollar terms in 2025, marking the fastest growth rate in recent years, according to the new Global Wealth Report 2026 by Swiss bank UBS.
This growth was significantly higher than in previous years: global personal wealth increased by 4.6% in 2024 and by 4.2% in 2023. UBS attributes this acceleration to growth in financial markets, an increase in the value of non-financial assets, and currency factors—the weakening of the U.S. dollar boosted the dollar-denominated value of assets outside the United States.
Wealth grew most strongly in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region in 2025, rising by 17.5%. In North and South America, growth stood at 8.5%, and in the Asia-Pacific region, it was 5.9%.
Switzerland leads in average wealth per adult at $910,382. It is followed by the United States at $696,277, Luxembourg at $654,732, Hong Kong at $648,267, and Australia at $616,306. However, this indicator is heavily influenced by the concentration of large fortunes and therefore does not always reflect the standard of living of the “average” household.
Median wealth is a more indicative measure for assessing the well-being of the middle class. According to this metric, Luxembourg ranks first at $394,005 per adult. It is followed by Belgium at $277,166, Australia at $210,783, New Zealand at $206,617, and Denmark at $203,771. Meanwhile, the United States, which ranks second in terms of average wealth, is only in 28th place in terms of median wealth—$68,998.
UBS’s main conclusion is that the world has become wealthier, but growth has been unevenly distributed. The report states that average wealth has increased significantly, while median wealth has declined in many countries. This indicates that a significant portion of new assets is concentrated among wealthier segments of the population.
The number of dollar millionaires in 2025 grew by 1.5%, or nearly 1 million people. This means that, on average, more than 2,680 new millionaires appeared worldwide each day. In total, UBS estimates the number of dollar millionaires at approximately 57.5 million people. More than 40% of them live in the U.S.—over 23.6 million people. China has more than 5.3 million dollar millionaires, and Japan has about 3 million.
UBS highlights the role of real estate separately. For many households, residential real estate remains the primary asset. This helps protect capital from inflation, but at the same time limits families’ participation in the growth of stock markets and other liquid investment instruments. Therefore, according to UBS’s assessment, the distribution of new wealth gains will increasingly depend on access to investment assets and the ability to diversify capital.
UBS’s methodology takes into account not only financial assets but also real assets, primarily housing, net of debt. Private pension assets are included in the calculations, while unfunded government pension liabilities are not. The report covers 56 key markets, which, according to UBS estimates, account for more than 92% of global personal wealth.
This report is important for the real estate and international investment markets for two reasons. First, it shows that real estate remains the primary asset for a significant portion of private capital. Second, it confirms that wealth growth increasingly depends not only on home ownership but also on access to global financial markets, currency diversification, and investment instruments.
