The rise of Asia’s extremely wealthy population

The global ultra wealthy population will hit a total of 528,100 people by 2027, up from 133,000 in 2022, according to Altrata analysts latest World Ultra Wealth 2023 report. Ultra wealthy people are defined here as those who each have a net worth in excess of $30 million.

In 2019, Asia’s number of ultra wealthy overtook the figure in Europe for the first time. Analysts predict that the region’s global share of UHNW wealth will continue to grow, with forecasts to hit 29 percent by 2027, up from just 15 percent in 2004. This will be at the expense of Europe, which is anticipated to see its share of global UHNW decline from 41.4 percent of 2004 to 25 percent by 2027.

While ultra wealthy populations are set to increase across all world regions, Asia is forecast to see the strongest growth over the next five years, surging from 395,070 to 528,100. This is partly thanks to India’s expanding economy, as well as a growing trend for businesses to diversify their supply chains away from the Chinese mainland, and to instead relocate industrial, logistical and real estate activities to other Asian markets.

As the following chart shows, North America is expected to continue to account for around 35 percent of global UHNW wealth in 2027 while Europe is forecast to lag behind these two regions, although still seeing an overall expansion of cumulative wealth.