Global private wealth rises 10.8% in 2025, UBS reports; Germany records 2.6 million millionaires
UBS reports global private wealth rose 10.8% in 2025, concentrated in the US and China, with Germany recording 2.6 million dollar-millionaires amid rising concentration.
The UBS Global Wealth Report for 2025 shows global private wealth expanded sharply, increasing by 10.8 percent year-on-year as asset prices and savings boosts lifted household balance sheets worldwide. The bank’s analysis highlights that gains were unevenly distributed, with large concentrations of wealth in a small number of countries and a pronounced rise in the upper tiers of private fortunes. UBS cautions that averages can obscure distributional realities, noting elite fortunes can skew national figures and mask persistent pockets of low wealth.
UBS Finds 10.8% Jump in Global Private Wealth in 2025
The UBS Global Wealth Report states that total private wealth rose by 10.8 percent in 2025, driven by market gains and increased valuations across major asset classes. Growth was notably strong in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, where returns outpaced the global average, according to the bank’s country-level breakdown. UBS also flagged an acceleration in the growth of very high-net-worth cohorts, particularly those with net assets exceeding five million US dollars.
Wealth Concentration Focused in US and China
UBS reports that more than half of global private wealth remains concentrated in the United States and China, underscoring the central role those economies play in global asset accumulation. The bank’s figures show that these two countries together account for a majority share of the world’s household wealth, amplifying the geographic imbalance in capital ownership. Analysts say that concentration increases the sensitivity of global wealth metrics to economic developments in a handful of large markets.
Germany Sees 2.6 Million Dollar-Millionaires
Germany’s share of the millionaire population rose in 2025, with the report estimating about 2.6 million adults holding at least one million US dollars in private wealth. That figure represents roughly a one percent increase from 2024 and implies that approximately 3.9 percent of German adults now qualify as dollar-millionaires. UBS notes that a million US dollars was equivalent to about 880,000 euros under the exchange-rate assumptions used in the report, and that nearly half of global new millionaires were located in the United States.
Millionaires Hold Nearly Half of Germany’s Private Wealth
According to the report, German millionaires own a disproportionate share of national assets, holding roughly 46 percent of total private wealth in Germany. By contrast, UBS identifies a significant lower-wealth segment as well: nearly 9.8 percent of adults in Germany possessed less than 10,000 US dollars in private wealth. The dual picture of a substantial high-wealth class and a sizeable low-asset population highlights the uneven distribution within Germany’s household finances.
Switzerland Tops Per-Adult Wealth Rankings; Germany Ranks 14th
On a per-adult basis, the report puts Switzerland at the top with an average wealth of about 910,000 US dollars per adult, followed by the United States and Luxembourg in the ranking. Germany ranks 14th, with average per-adult wealth converted to roughly 304,000 euros, a figure that includes the estimated value of residential real estate. UBS’s country comparisons incorporate property values, which can notably elevate measured household wealth in nations with high homeownership and strong housing markets.
UBS Warns That Averages Can Mask Inequality and Policy Challenges
UBS emphasizes that headline averages and aggregate totals can be misleading because a relatively small number of very wealthy households push mean values upward, potentially obscuring deteriorating conditions for lower-wealth groups. The bank’s commentary urges caution in interpreting the data as a measure of broad-based improvement in living standards. Economists say the rising share of wealth held by the ultra-rich and the rapid growth in multi-million-dollar wealth brackets raise questions about taxation, housing policy and measures to support asset-building among lower-income households.
Policy makers and financial institutions will likely face renewed calls to address wealth concentration as the report shows disproportionate gains at the top while significant segments remain near subsistence asset levels. The pattern of concentrated wealth growth may also complicate efforts to assess financial resilience and the distributional impact of macroeconomic policy.
The UBS Global Wealth Report’s 2025 findings paint a picture of strong overall growth in private assets accompanied by increasing concentration in a handful of countries and among the very wealthy, calling attention to distributional gaps within and between nations.
