Several gains in the stock market and house prices contributed to a rapid rise in the number of wealthy people worldwide last year.
According to Credit Suisse’s most recent annual wealth report, as many as 5.2 million people became millionaires last year, with nearly half living in the United States.
“This is the largest increase in millionaire numbers recorded for any country in any year this century,” the report read.
At the end of 2021, there was a total of 62.5 millionaires worldwide.
On Tuesday, the report revealed that the overall global wealth increased by 9.8% to $463.6 trillion by the end of last year.
Household wealth increased the most in the US and China, followed by Canada, India, and Australia.
Since 2021, there has been significant growth in each country’s economic output, coupled with robust housing and stock market activity.
The pandemic has already significantly impacted global inequality, which further exacerbated the situation.
According to the World Bank, 2020 marked a historic setback in the fight against global poverty as the number of the world’s impoverished increased for the first time in more than 20 years.
Although global poverty has recently declined, the institution anticipates tens of millions more people may still be living in extreme poverty this year “due to the lingering effects of the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and rising inflation.”
