How Many Millionaires are There in the World?
The word millionaire is generally used to describe a rich person. When we speak of a millionaire, we think about mansions, limousines and yachts. But what is the most accurate definition of a millionaire? The most recognized definition of a millionaire is a person who has financial assets of at least US$ 1 million, excluding the home value. Despite of the images that we associate with this word, the amount of US$1 million nowadays is no longer what is used to be some decades ago. Many people who have this amount today live without luxuries and do not feel rich. However, this amount is used as a measure to differentiate privileged people, who are known as HNWI (High Net Worth Individuals).
How many millionaires, or HNWIs are there in the world? According to the research made by CapGemini and Merryl Lynch published in the World Wealth Report 2006, there are about 2,669,000 millionaires in the United States , or about 0.9% of the population. In the whole world there are 8.7 million millionaires, or about 0.13% of the world-wide population. The total number of millionaires in the world grew 6.5% in 2005. They possess a total of US$33.3 trillions in financial assets. The majority of the millionaires are in North America (United States and Canada).
The table below shows the distribution of millionaires in the main regions of the world:
- North America – 2.9 million
- Europe – 2.8 million
- Asia-Pacific – 2.4 million
- Latin America – 0.3 million
- Middle East – 0.3 million
- Africa – 0.1 million
There is another level of extreme millionaires. These are the people who possess more than US$30 million in financial assets. These people are trully rich, and have the financial power to live in mansions, and to buy yatches. There are a total of 85,400 people in the world who fall in this level of wealth, and almost half are in North America. Although this level of wealth is practically unreacheable for the great majority of people, the goal of becoming a millionaire, or to be a HNWI, is completely viable for most people. If you have this objective you may be curious to know where the wealth of these millionaires comes from.
Here is a comparison of the origin of the wealth of the millionaires around the world:
- Business / business sales – 37%
- Wage income – 24%
- Inheritances – 18%
- Investments – 10%
- Restricted stocks/stock options – 9%
- Other – 2%
An interesting fact about the origin of wealth of millionaires is that there are significant regional differrences. For example, in Europe and Latin America the biggest portion of the wealth of millionaires (about half) is from business or business sales. However, in the Middle East, the biggest percentage of the wealth (36%) is from inheritances, and in the United States the biggest portion (32%) is from wage income.
If you want to increase your chances of becoming a millionaire, here are some interesting statistics:
- 61% of millionaires are more than 56 years old, although only 15% of the world-wide population belong to this age bracket
- 84% of millionaires are married
- 83% of millionaires have children
The great majority of the world-wide population (99.87%) does not belong to this exclusive club of millionaires. However, the chances of you becoming a millionaire increase substantially when you live in a rich country, such as in the United States. As we saw here, most American millionaires built their fortune with wage income. You do not even need to have a business to become a millionaire in the United States! Even if you are just an employee, you too can get there. (see the article “How to Become a Millionaire”).
For a more recent update see the article “More Than 10 Million Millionaires in the World“.
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Comment by Jesús Augusto Feliciani on 2007-07-03:
quiero saber sobre estadisticas no comentarios ¿como hago?
Comment by naisioxerloro on 2007-11-28:
Hi.
Good design, who make it?
Comment by reirobertocarlosf@bol.com.br on 2008-02-18:
O mundo é de todos a riqueza dividida não deixaria niguem pobre o que precisa é virar essa piramide social ao contrario me derrubar a riqueza para baixo ai sim construir uma nova piramide mais solida baseada em novos valores mais solidos com menos discriminação o povo é riqueza eles ainda não tem tudo…
Comment by farhad on 2008-05-26:
In the top 2.6% of sucessfull Americans.
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Comment by promotional mugs on 2008-12-04:
Why should I think to be a millionaire as I do not have any company, how so ever small? Article provides some knowledge about unequal distribution of wealth and assets and is useful to high ranking business entities.
Comment by Wagner on 2008-12-29:
Bem,para chegar ao primeiro milhão e necessário um plano de ação e grandes risco começando do zero,mas a maioria da pessoas desistem,outras nem tentam,e 80% morrem na miséria.
Comment by jaime on 2009-03-11:
considero que ser millonario no esta en lo que tengas sino en cuanto te puede durar tu riqueza
Comment by aloise jr on 2009-04-14:
milhonario nao é so de riquesa é tb do coraçao
Comment by charlis linarez pimentel on 2009-04-14:
yo creo ke las personas multimillonaria deberian hacer aportaciones para las intiutcione encargada de brinda apoyo alas personas pobres
Comment by jose carbo on 2009-06-03:
soy muy pobre ahora perdi mi trabajo tengo la custodia de mi hija que tiene 9 anos como puedo combenser a un millonario que me regale algun dinero para poder salir adelante estoy desesperado y no se gue aser
Comment by Luis Lorenzo on 2009-07-28:
Jose Carbo, la solución no está en convencer a un millonario para que te regale algún dinero para salir adelante, porque entonces tendrían que estar regalándote dinero toda la vida. La clave es que no te den el pescado, sino que te enseñen a pescar, no se si entiendes la analogía.
Primero quiero preguntarte, en qué país estás viviendo? Yo estoy viviendo en Caracas, Venezuela, pero tengo negocio en varios paises de latinoamerica, y estoy buscando personas en varios paises para trabajar conmigo, podemos cuadrar.
Soy ingeniero y tengo un negocio con el que estoy consiguiendo libertad financiera, para dejar de preocuparme por el dinero. Y la buena noticia es que estoy buscando personas que quieran ganarse entre 1500$ y 2000$ sin dejar su trabajo actual. Te puedo comentar que tengo varias personas trabajando conmigo que comenzaron con muchas deudas, algunos sin trabajo, otros saliendo de zonas muy humildes, pero con GANAS de trabajar, prosperar y surgir, y hoy en día son personas que tienen libertad de tiempo, y están superando los 2000$ mensuales.
Si te interesa escuchar, podemos conversar Jose, mi correo es luislorenzo05@gmail.com.
Si estás desesperado y no sabes qué hacer, yo puedo ayudarte, porque puedo enseñarte a generar ingresos superiores a los 2000$ mensuales.
En mi caso, como ingeniero de telecomunicaciones estaría ganando 1000$, y con mi negocio propio estoy superando los 4000$ mensuales.
Saludos,
Luis Lorenzo
0058-416.612.08.08
Pingback by Worldwide Success » Make the First Million and the Rest is Easy on 2009-08-09:
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[...] Would you like to have a million dollars? For some people this quantity may seem unreachable. However, if you live in a rich country, like the United States, even if you only have an average income, you can reach the goal of becoming a millionaire. The quantity of one million dollars nowadays is not what it used to be anymore. For people that live in some of the largest cities in the world, like New York in the US, London in England, or Tokyo in Japan, this quantity is only enough to buy a house or condo without any luxury. However, this quantity is still used as a measurement to distinguish the privileged people, who are known as HNWI (High Net Worth Individuals). For more information on this subject, see the article “How Many Millionaires are there in the World?” [...]
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Comment by Caio on 2010-02-12:
Olá, sou brasileiro e quero me tornar um milionário com certeza, mas não me preocupo em ser um milionário em dólares, se puder ter um milhão de reais já está ótimo. Talvez até uma quantia menor seja suficiente como 500 mil reais. Isto numa poupança daria algo em torno de 2500 reais por mês, o que é muito mais do que metade da população ganha. Se eu fosse muito rico com certeza ajudaria muitas pessoas pobres também, pois apesar do correto ser ensinar as pessoas a pescar ao invés de dar o peixe, elas também previsão da vara, correto? Abraços.