Global Millionaires Surge 7.9% to 25.3 Million in 2025

According to the Capgemini World Wealth Report, the population of global millionaires reached 25.3 million in 2025, marking a 7.9% increase from the previous year. This surge in the number of millionaires is largely attributed to the soaring stock markets, which created nearly 2 million new millionaires worldwide.

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The total wealth of these millionaires also saw significant growth, increasing by 8.7% to $98.3 trillion in 2025, the fastest growth in five years. This rise in wealth has led to a widening wealth gap between millionaires and the ultra-wealthy.

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Ultra-Wealthy Outpace Millionaires in Wealth Growth

The ultra-wealthy, defined as those with $30 million or more in investible assets, saw their population grow by 9.4% in 2025, reaching 250,000. Their fortunes rose by 9.7% during the same period. This significant growth has led to a situation where the ultra-wealthy now hold 35% of all millionaire wealth, despite representing only 1% of the overall millionaire population.

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Gareth Wilson, global banking industry lead at Capgemini, attributed this disparity to the ultra-wealthy’s access to higher-returning private investments. ‘They have access to investments and opportunities that aren’t afforded even to the millionaires next door, whether it be pre-IPO investments or private markets,’ Wilson explained. ‘When you look at those individuals who have investable assets at that scale, they probably have more influence in terms of access to some of the hedge funds, access to the private markets, and they’re probably afforded access to some other kind of pre-IPO investments that us mere mortals probably don’t even know about.’

Regional Growth Patterns

The United States continued to power much of the global millionaire growth, adding 730,000 new millionaires in 2025. The total U.S. millionaire population now stands at 8.73 million, with their fortunes surging by nearly $3 trillion to $31.3 trillion.

Asia also posted strong growth, with its millionaire wealth up 10.5% and millionaire population up 9.4%. While China had been the main growth engine for Asian wealth for years, Korea and Taiwan are now leading Asian wealth creation, with the Korean stock market surging 76% last year and semiconductor stocks powering Taiwanese markets higher.

Europe’s millionaire population grew 6.5%, while Latin America’s rose 0.3% and the Middle East saw a decline of 1.4%.

Investment Patterns Among Millionaires

The world’s millionaires are increasing their holdings of stocks, with an average of 25% of their portfolios in stocks in 2025, up from 22% in 2024. This trend is most likely due to rising share prices. Their share of alternatives declined to 12% from 15% and their cash holdings also fell to 24% from 26%. Their holdings of fixed income increased from 18% to 20% and their real estate investments remained flat at 19%.

The increased holdings of stocks and drawdowns in cash point to a continued ‘risk on’ attitude among millionaire investors. With markets coming off three years of double-digit gains, investors are more fearful of missing out on a bull run than they are of losses.

Challenges in Wealth Management

Today’s wealthy are increasingly dividing their fortunes between multiple advisors based on their specialties, rather than relying on one or two trusted firms. A quarter of all millionaires now use between four and six advisors, double the number from 2019. The number of millionaires using only one advisor has fallen by more than half, to 19%.

Wealthy investors are also turning to non-traditional firms for advice. On the lower end of the wealth spectrum, for those with between $1 million and $5 million, investors are using more roboadvisors, or automated platforms. In the middle segment, say between $5 million and $100 million, more clients are turning to registered investment advisors over traditional wire houses and banks. And at the top, many are creating their family offices.

To better serve clients in the new competitive landscape, firms need to understand all of their client needs, rather than just focusing on investment guidelines. Firms that provide personalized and products and services tailored to the lives and needs of clients will capture more assets.

Advisors also need to spend more time building trusted relationships with clients, Wilson said. ‘We’ve seen where that relationship manager is able to build trust, build a very personalized connect, and also orchestrate all the products and services for the client in a specific way,’ Wilson said. ‘They not only retain that relationship, but clients will recommend them. You want your high-net-worth individuals recommending you to their friends at the country club, or the golf club, or the boat club.’