Key findings from the Billionaire Census 2025
- With 1,135 billionaires, the US accounts for a third of the world's billionaires.
- The number of billionaires in Europe passed the 1,000 threshold for the first time in 2024. Above-average population growth of 6.1% secured Europe's position as the world's second-largest billionaire region.
- Asia saw below average growth with just a 2.6% rise in its billionaire population due to the structural slowdown of the Chinese economy, a varied performance across other markets in the region and trade tensions.
- Billionaires comprise less than 1% of the global UHNW population but hold almost 25% of this group's total wealth.
- In the last 10 years, billionaires whose wealth was tied to technology or the hospitality and entertainment sector have experienced the strongest gains in net worth.
Billionaires in the U.S.
North America reinforced its status as the world's leading billionaire region, recording above-average population growth and dynamic wealth gains, according to Altrata's Billionaire Census 2025. The number of billionaires in the region rose by 7.8% from a year earlier to 1,198 individuals, lifting its global share to 34%. The U.S. was the driving force behind this increase, as the outperformance of U.S. technology stocks powered billionaire growth and robust wealth gains.
As The Wall Street Journal observed in its recent coverage citing Altrata data, "The billionaire border can be fuzzy. Markets fluctuate, the value of private companies can be uncertain and big donations dent fortunes, meaning dozens of individuals... can move on or off the list" (The Wall Street Journal, September 23, 2025).
Volatility Among Billionaires Across the Globe
The inherent volatility of global asset markets, amplified by rapid technological disruption and evolving geopolitical and geoeconomic dynamics, continues to shape billionaire wealth. Those individuals hovering near the $1 billion threshold are particularly exposed to fluctuations that can push them into or out of the billionaire ranks from year to year.
The study reveals that in each of the past three years, an average of 10% of individuals worth between $1 billion and $2 billion have dropped below the billionaire threshold from the prior year. In 2024 alone, 8% of billionaires within this wealth band lost their billionaire status. Those with a net worth of $1 billion - $2 billion, whose primary business focus was a publicly owned company, were more than twice as likely to drop out of the billionaire club than individuals with a privately owned enterprise.
"The billionaire population is far from static. Wealth creation and loss are accelerating alongside the volatility of global markets and the disruptive impact of new technologies," said Brian Alster, CEO of Altrata. "This constant movement underscores the importance of understanding not just where wealth exists today, but how it will evolve based on external factors and an individual's asset allocation. Our data continues to shed light on the changes in the global distribution of wealth, helping organizations and policymakers anticipate what's next."
Altrata's Billionaire Census 2025 and the data that underpins the findings continue to be critical for people who seek to engage the ultra wealthy population globally.
Access the complete findings now.
About Altrata
Altrata provides essential intelligence and insight on business leaders, the global wealthy and well-connected. The leading commercial, philanthropic, and educational institutions depend on Altrata solutions to meet their growth objectives. Clients partner with Altrata to confidently engage with exceptional individuals and organizations, create meaningful relationships and seize strategic opportunities.
Altrata's global dataset contains millions of individual profiles on the wealthy, senior decision makers, board members and C-suite leaders. Altrata offers actionable, accurate and comprehensive data maintained by a global team of in-house researchers committed to surfacing the right insight at the right time to drive positive business outcomes. Altrata is a definitive leader in global wealth intelligence, professional relationship mapping and affluent market dynamics.
SOURCE Altrata Limited
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