Did you know that the United States is home to the most millionaire families in the world? Despite gloomy short-term economic prospects, the United States remains the world’s millionaire capital, boasting over 5 million millionaires.
Japan claimed second place in the recent study by Wealth Insights, boasting over 2 million individuals with over $1 million in assets. Japan’s capital, Tokyo, scored first place, with over 400,000 millionaires living within the city’s borders.
European and East Asian countries rounded out most of the top ten, with China now in fourth place with over 1 million millionaire residents. Germany boasted the most millionaires in Europe, with over 1.3 millionaires basing themselves in Germany.
The study indicated an interesting trend: while Japan’s status as a wealthy nation has been established for years, the vast majority of the growth in the chart comes from East Asian nations. South Korea, while not in the top ten countries, saw high levels of income growth over the last two decades, as did other East Asian nations.
Tokyo ranked first globally in terms of cities, with New York City and London also in the top three. East Asia’s business centres, such as Hong Kong and Singapore, placed eighth and tenth respectively due to rapid growth over the past four decades.
Cracking the top ten for the first time was Beijing, China’s political capital and one of the world’s largest business centres. Shanghai, China’s large business capital, trailed behind the country’s political hotspot, sliding into eight place, behind Hong Kong.
While Western countries, particularly those in the United States and Europe, have the largest population of millionaires, it’s East Asia’s ‘tiger’ economies that are the world’s new capital of high-income professionals.
