Number of global billionaires dwindles

A woman plays a violin in Odesa in October. UBS said Russia's invasion of Ukraine was contributing to global market uncertainty and volatility. In addition, Russian oligarchs had their assets seized or frozen. Keystone / Hannibal Hanschke

The number of ultra-rich individuals and their total wealth has declined slightly this year, partly as a result of high volatility in financial markets and the end of very accommodating monetary policies.

While the US has the largest number of billionaires, new fortunes have emerged in India, according to a study by Swiss bank UBSExternal link published on Thursday.

In 2022 UBS counted some 2,668 billionaires across the globe with a total wealth of $12.7 trillion (CHF12 trillion), compared with 2,755 billionaires and a total wealth of $13.1 trillion a year earlier. Overall, 360 individuals left the ranking and 273 joined it.

The data was collected in March 2022 and UBS said the total number of ultra-rich and their wealth is likely to have declined further since then due to the fall in financial markets.

“It’s a time of shifting fortunes. Rapidly rising interest rates, stop-start pandemic re-openings and war in Europe are feeding market uncertainty and volatility, with wealth created and eroded in almost equal measure,” the study’s authors said.

The two most populated sectors, finance and investments (392 billionaires), and technology (348 billionaires), experienced some of the highest rates of change. Fifty new billionaires were created in finance and investments, and 30 disappeared. There were 41 new tech billionaires while 57 disappeared.

The manufacturing, fashion and retail sectors also flourished amid extraordinary demand for durable goods, as well as the emergence of new electric vehicle and battery entrepreneurs.

Winners and losers

By region, the US still has the most billionaires with 735 super-rich, up 1.5% year-on-year. China follows with 540 billionaires but saw a 13.7% drop in numbers. Switzerland has 41 billionaires (2.5%).

India’s 166 billionaires were responsible for the largest increase (18.6%), whereas the largest decrease was seen in Russia, falling by 29.1% to 83. Their total wealth also fell by 43.5% to $326.9 billion. With its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow found itself under a series of international embargoes and restrictions, as did its oligarchs, who had their assets seized or frozen.

UBS analysts also noted that wealth was affected in countries that were slow to rebound from the Covid pandemic, such as Japan, where the number of billionaires fell by 18.4% to 40 individuals.