The United States is the champion of the number of billionaires and total wealth. While the number of billionaires worldwide has shrunk, the number of billionaires in the United States rose to 735 from 724 in 2021, with total wealth increasing nearly seven percent to $4.7 trillion. According to the report, the United States is home to almost one third of all billionaires globally.
Meanwhile, the number of billionaires in mainland China decreased by 86 year-on-year to 540, and their total wealth fell by 20 percent year-on-year to $2 trillion. The number of billionaires in Hong Kong decreased by four year-on-year to 67, and their total wealth decreased 14.5 percent year-on-year to $383.4 billion.
The number of billionaires in the Asia-Pacific region slipped to 1,084, down 59 from the previous year. Asia Pacific is the second largest region in total wealth, which fell nearly 10 percent to $4.2 trillion.
India’s billionaires prospered as the country overtook the UK to become the fifth-largest economy in 2022. The country had 166 billionaires as of March 2022, up from 140 the year before.
The war between Russia and Ukraine has markedly changed Eastern Europe. The number of billionaires in the region fell from 154 to 127, and total wealth fell by more than a third to $455 billion. The number of billionaires in Russia fell from 117 to 83, with total wealth down 29.1 percent to $326.9 billion.
Wealth was flat across Western Europe at a total of $2.3 trillion, with the number of billionaires falling from 474 to 467 year on year. However, Swiss billionaires fared better. Their combined wealth rose by 25 percent to $181.9 billion.
Analyzing the results by sectors, the two major industries of finance and investments (392 in aggregate) and technology (348 in aggregate) had the highest number of billionaires as well as a lot of churn. Fifty new billionaires were created during the year, while 30 dropped from the list in the finance and investments sector. Meanwhile, in tech, there were 41 new billionaires, and 57 disappeared.
Manufacturers flourished amid extraordinary demand for durable goods and the emergence of new electric vehicle and battery entrepreneurs. There were 338 manufacturing billionaires in 2022 worth a total of $1.1 trillion, with 44 new joiners and 37 dropouts.
The report predicts that the total wealth and number of billionaires are likely to fall further after March 2022 due to declines in asset prices.
