As of 2018, there are over 2,200 U.S. dollar billionaires worldwide, with a combined wealth of over US$ 9.1 trillion, up from US$7.67 trillion in 2017. According to a 2017 Oxfam report, the top eight richest billionaires own as much combined wealth as "half the human race".
As per the report, India has 237 billionaires, up 58 compared to last year.
Forbes
| Rank | Country/Territory | Number of billionaires per million people |
|---|
| World | 0.35 |
| 1 | United States | 1.853 |
| 2 | China | 0.276 |
| 3 | India | 0.129 |
According to the Hurun Global Rich List 2021, Greater China housed the most billionaires worldwide in 2021. In detail, Greater China topped the list with a billionaire population of 1,058 people. By comparison, 696 billionaires resided in the United States.
In countries that use the short scale number naming system, a billionaire is someone who has at least a thousand times a million dollars, euros or the currency of the given country. Hence a person must have a net worth of at least one million USD to be recognised as a millionaire anywhere in the world.
High Networth Individuals are widely defined as those having an investible surplus of more than 5 crores. By 2017, there were close to 2,70,000 HNIs in India. This number is predicted to touch 9,50,000 by 2027. HNIs have a combined wealth of almost $ 1.5 trillion or 58% of India's GDP.
The global population is edging towards 8 billion but just 295,450 people are considered Ultra-High-Net-Worth (UHNW) individuals.
San Jose is one of the wealthiest major cities in the United States and the world, and has the third-highest GDP per capita in the world (after Zürich, Switzerland and Oslo, Norway), according to the Brookings Institution.
But, have you ever wondered how much you actually need to be considered one? Well according to Knight Frank's 2021 Global Wealth Report, you'll need to have a net wealth that exceeds US$2.9 (S$3.85) Million to be considered the wealthiest 1 per cent in Singapore.
To be considered a rich person in Ontario, you should be making upwards of $345,500. Yikes. In Toronto, though, you'll need to make over $360,000 to be in the big leagues.
There were six US cities in the top 20: New York (1), Chicago (6), Los Angeles (6), Houston (13), and Dallas (14). New York led the wealth category, which measures the number of UHNWIs (net worth of more than $30 million) and HNWIs (net worth more than $1 million).
Where in the world is it REALLY easiest to get rich?
- What is immediately clear, is that the three top performers in the table are Hong Kong, Switzerland and Singapore, all countries with exceptionally free markets and very low tax burdens.
- The question is however whether there is a price to pay for it.
But nearly every other country on the planet also gained new billionaires this year, with only one—the Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis—recording fewer billionaires than in 2020. Kuwait and Angola saw their only billionaires fall off the list all well, leaving them with none.
What is a High Net Worth Individual? There is no precise definition of a high net worth individual. In the UK, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) amended their definition of a High Net Worth Individual in 2016 and anyone with assets valued in excess of £10 million was categorised as such.
48% people who took the survey feel that anything above 2-10 crores is a good networth to be called RICH. As per a research published in 2013 by Credit Suisse, if your net worth is above Rs 60 lacs, you are among the richest 8% in the world and richest 0.4% in India.
It estimates that the minimum wealth for an adult to be part of the richest 1 per cent in India is $150,902. At current rates of around Rs 74.5 to a dollar, that would be around Rs 1.12 crore. Note that this is wealth per adult and not per household.
The most commonly quoted figure for qualification as a high-net-worth individual is at least $1 million in liquid financial assets, excluding personal assets such as a primary residence.
About 8,046,080 US households have a net worth of $2 million or more, covering about 6.25% of American households.
Respondents to Schwab's 2021 Modern Wealth Survey said a net worth of $1.9 million qualifies a person as wealthy. The average net worth of U.S. households, however, is less than half of that. Indeed, the annual Schwab survey found that respondents are lowering the bar for what they consider wealthy.
