Where the World’s Richest People Live: The United States and China Pull Ahead

The number of people with fortunes exceeding $30 million continues to grow despite economic crises, sanctions, inflation, and political instability. According to the international report The Wealth Report 2026, there are hundreds of thousands of ultra-wealthy individuals around the world, and their distribution by country clearly shows where global capital is concentrated today.

The United States and China remain the leaders, while Europe still holds a significant share of global wealth, and some smaller countries are showing impressive growth in the number of millionaires.

The United States Remains the Main Country for the Ultra-Wealthy

The United States confidently ranks first in the world by the number of people with fortunes above $30 million. The country has around 251,000 such residents.

In effect, every third ultra-wealthy person on the planet lives in the United States. The reason is not only the size of the American economy. The country remains the world’s largest center of high technology, financial services, venture capital, and stock markets.

This is where many modern giants such as Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, and Google emerged, creating thousands of new millionaires and billionaires.

China Holds Second Place

China ranks second, with around 122,000 ultra-wealthy residents.

Thirty years ago, figures like this would have seemed impossible. Yet rapid economic growth turned the country into one of the world’s largest economies. Huge fortunes were made in manufacturing, construction, technology, e-commerce, and the financial sector.

Despite the slowdown of China’s economy in recent years, the number of wealthy citizens remains among the highest in the world.

Europe Maintains Its Position

Among European countries, Germany is the leader. Around 38,000 people with fortunes exceeding $30 million live there.

Germany is followed by:

The United Kingdom — 27,900;

France — 21,500;

Switzerland — 17,700;

Austria — 16,500;

Italy — 15,400.

It is notable that Switzerland, despite its relatively small population, remains one of the richest countries in the world in terms of the concentration of wealthy individuals. This is supported by its developed banking system, stable economy, and attractive tax legislation.

Russia Remains Among the Global Leaders

Russia has around 8,400 ultra-wealthy citizens.

Despite sanctions and restrictions in recent years, the country remains one of the largest centers of private capital in Eastern Europe. Major fortunes are still formed mainly in natural resources, metallurgy, finance, construction, and industry.

By the number of people with fortunes above $30 million, Russia outranks many countries in Europe and the Middle East.

India Is Rapidly Approaching the Leaders

One of the most interesting countries in the ranking is India. It already has nearly 20,000 ultra-wealthy people.

Experts believe that India may become the main source of new millionaires in the coming decades. Its huge population, fast-growing economy, developing IT sector, and expanding industry create the conditions for the emergence of new large fortunes.

Wealth Is Concentrated in a Few Countries

The infographic shows an important feature of the modern global economy. The overwhelming majority of ultra-wealthy people are concentrated in a relatively small number of countries.

The United States, China, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and India form a kind of club of countries where a significant share of the world’s private capital is concentrated.

At the same time, many countries with large populations are barely represented among the leaders, highlighting the enormous gap in the level of economic development.

What This Ranking Shows

The number of ultra-wealthy people is not just an indicator of personal prosperity. It reflects the development of business, financial markets, the investment environment, and an economy’s ability to create large fortunes.

But there is another side as well. The more billionaires and multimillionaires a country has, the more often the question of social inequality arises. In many countries, the wealth of the top tier grows much faster than the income of the middle class.

That is why the map of global wealth shows both the economic power of states and the scale of the gap between the richest people and everyone else on the planet.