According to the most recent Global Wealth Report by UBS, a Swiss banking giant, there’s a notable rise in the number of millionaires around the world, yet the gap in wealth inequality continues to widen.
Now in its 17th edition, the report examines the development and allocation of wealth across various markets and regions, covering the United States, sections of Europe, the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa.
UBS highlights that in 2025, global wealth saw an upturn for the third year in a row. Personal wealth surged by 10.8 percent, more than doubling the growth rates observed in 2024 and 2023, calculated using weighted averages.
Iqbal Khan, who co-leads UBS’s global wealth management, attributes this wealth growth to “changing economic dynamics, technological advancements, and new market opportunities.”
The report also assesses millionaire numbers with the benchmark set at US$1 million, approximately equivalent to $1.4 million. It revealed that the past year saw nearly one million individuals achieving a net worth of seven figures, averaging over 2,600 new millionaires every day.
While the US accounted for almost half of this growth, more than 25,000 Australians also became new millionaires.
However, median wealth — which UBS said is less affected by high earners and thus “known to paint a more accurate picture” — declined in most countries included in the study.
Australia was ranked the third-highest nation for median wealth at approximately US$210,000 ($302,000), behind Luxembourg and Belgium.
Saul Eslake is an independent economist and told ABC News while “the gap between the middle and the wealthiest is widening”, he believes wealth in Australia is more evenly distributed than in other countries.
“By contrast, in the United States, average household wealth is more than 10 times median household wealth. So, yes, wealth is inequitably or at least unequally distributed in Australia, but less unequally than in the United States and a lot of other comparable countries,” Eslake said.
What’s behind this growth?
Being categorised as a millionaire in this study does not necessarily mean that people have millions in the bank.
UBS specified that owner-occupied property (a property purchased by someone with the intention to live in it) represented the single biggest asset for most “everyday” millionaires included in the study.
“In other words, rising property valuations propel many people into millionaire status without any actual increase in their disposable income,” the report said.
However, it’s only when a property is sold (and transaction costs are processed) that housing generates liquid wealth.
While the value of owner-occupied properties in Australia has generally increased over the past five years, recent analysis by Domain suggests the housing market could be falling.
This downturn also follows the government’s budget changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax, as well as three consecutive interest rate rises this year.
The report also does not specify how factors such as gender or age impact global wealth.
‘An additional piece of the wealth puzzle’
UBS also analysed what it described as an “additional piece of the wealth puzzle” known as the Gini coefficient. It measures inequality on a scale of zero (where wealth is completely evenly shared) to one (where the richest person has all wealth).
Australia received a Gini coefficient of 0.53 — down from 0.55 in 2024. That means inequality in the country has narrowed over the last year.
Australia was also ranked 52 out of 56 countries, with Slovakia found to have the least wealth inequality in the study. Comparatively, the United Arab Emirates, Russia and South Africa were found to have the most wealth inequality.
The report acknowledged the Gini coefficient can have a “mind of its own”.
“A country can be wealthy and lack equality but also wealthy and quite equal, and vice versa.”