Luxembourg ranked first globally in median wealth per adult in 2023 with €372,258, said UBS in a recent report. Photo: Shutterstock

Luxembourg ranked first globally in median wealth per adult in 2023 with €372,258, said UBS in a recent report. Photo: Shutterstock

Every one in six adults in Luxembourg has $1m in wealth, the highest density in the world, according to UBS’s Global Wealth Report 2024.

With 16% of its adult population being millionaires in US dollar terms, Luxembourg topped the list for the highest proportion of millionaires per capita globally in 2023, according to UBS. This ranking was part of the 2024. In comparison, only 1.5% of the adult population in the 56 countries and jurisdictions analysed were millionaires.

Luxembourg boasted an impressive average wealth per adult of $607,524, second only to Switzerland’s $709,612.

However, Luxembourg led in terms of median wealth, a more representative measure of demographic wealth distribution, with a figure of €372,258. This indicates that half of Luxembourg’s adult population had a net wealth exceeding this amount. UBS defined “net wealth” as the total value of financial and real assets, including housing, owned by individuals, minus their debts.

In a broader context, the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region enjoyed the highest wealth per adult at just over $166,000, followed by the Asia-Pacific region with slightly over $156,000, and the Americas with $146,000. However, the growth in average wealth per adult since 2008 in the EMEA region lagged behind, with an increase of only 41% compared to 110% in the Americas and 122% in the Asia-Pacific region.

According to the UBS report, released on 10 July 2024, the combined wealth of the 56 countries analysed was estimated at $449.965trn, representing over 92% of the world’s estimated wealth of $487.915trn. UBS told Delano that it estimated Luxembourg’s total wealth in 2023 to be $314.488bn, approximately 0.6% of the global total.

Millionaires

In terms of millionaires, a UBS representative told Delano that a “model-based estimate” put the number of Luxembourg millionaires at 85,786 in 2023. A separate by Capgemini, a global IT and consulting firm, estimated 47,110 individuals in Luxembourg with more than $1m in investable assets in 2023.

While Luxembourg did not have any billionaires, there were little over 2,660 individuals globally with an estimated fortune of $1bn or more in 2023. Of these, 12 individuals had wealth between $50bn and $100bn, collectively amounting to $899bn or 6.5% of global wealth. Additionally, 14 individuals possessed more than $100bn each, with a total wealth of $1.973trn, accounting for approximately 14.2% of total global wealth.

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