US gained more than 2.5 million new millionaires in 2021, says Credit Suisse

The number of wealthy people in the world has grown at a rapid pace in the past year, driven by gains in the stock market and house prices.

About 5.2 million people became millionaires last year, nearly half in the United States alone, according to Credit Suisse’s latest annual wealth report.

“This is the biggest increase in the number of millionaires recorded for any country in any year this century,” he said.

Worldwide, the total number of millionaires was 62.5 million at the end of 2021, estimated Credit Suisse.

The report, released last Tuesday (20), found that aggregate global wealth totaled $463.6 trillion at the end of last year, a jump of 9.8%.

Unsurprisingly, the top two economies – the United States and China – had the biggest gains in household wealth, followed by Canada, India and Australia.

Each country was likely helped by significant increases in economic output in 2021, combined with “vigorous” activity in their respective real estate or equity markets, the bank said.

This has once again exacerbated global inequality, which has already worsened significantly over the course of the pandemic.

2020 saw a historic setback in the fight against global poverty, with the number of the world’s poorest rising for the first time in more than 20 years, according to the World Bank.

While overall poverty has slightly declined again, the institution estimates that tens of millions of people may still be living in extreme poverty this year than previously thought, “due to the lingering effects of the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and rising inflation.” .

This is in stark contrast to the most fortunate in the world, even if they are not immune to these factors.

Last year, the wealth share of the richest 1% “increased for the second year in a row,” Credit Suisse said in its report. These individuals accounted for 45.6% of the world’s wealth in 2021.