Top 20 richest countries by average wealth per adult in 2026
By Aboki Forex —
The world added close to one million new US dollar millionaires in 2025, pushing the global millionaire population to about 57.5 million, according to the UBS Global Wealth Report 2026. The annual study, which tracks 56 economies representing more than 92 percent of global wealth, shows personal wealth across those markets grew by 10.8 percent in US dollar terms in 2025.
This was more than twice the pace recorded in each of the previous two years and marked the third consecutive year of global wealth growth. The increase was driven by strong financial market performance and a broad rise in non-financial assets, including property.
Uneven gains across regions
The Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region recorded the strongest growth. Currency movements also played an important role as the US dollar weakened against major currencies, including the euro, during the year. South Africa is the only African country covered among the 56 markets in the report, but it does not rank among the global leaders in average wealth per adult. The country added approximately 3,840 new USD millionaires in 2025, representing 4.1 percent growth, and bringing its total millionaire population to about 97,000.
The top 20 countries by average wealth per adult
20. United Kingdom: $292,808. The UK has about 2.43 million USD millionaires, the fifth-largest total globally. Financial assets make up about 55.9 percent of gross wealth. Average wealth per adult has declined by about 23.2 percent in real local-currency terms since 2020, one of the largest falls among major wealthy markets.
19. Spain: $306,412. Financial assets make up only 31.4 percent of Spanish gross wealth, among the lowest in the top 20. Spain’s millionaire count grew 3.1 percent in 2025 to about 1.08 million.
18. South Korea: $311,260. South Korea recorded the most spectacular real-terms rise in average wealth per adult in the entire sample since 2020, with a 55 percent increase in real local-currency terms between 2020 and 2025. The country is now home to about 1.32 million USD millionaires.
17. Israel: $312,108. Financial assets make up 82.1 percent of gross wealth, the highest proportion in the entire 56-market sample. Israel has a total millionaire population of about 195,000.
16. Ireland: $314,167. Ireland’s millionaire population grew at 5.2 percent in 2025, the fifth-highest growth rate in the report, adding about 9,491 new millionaires to reach about 192,000 total.
15. Taiwan: $332,533. Financial asset concentration is the second-highest in the entire report at 80.8 percent. The $5–10 million wealth segment has grown at a compound annual rate of about 7 percent since 2000. Taiwan has about 772,000 USD millionaires.
14. France: $341,359. France’s millionaire count stands at about 2.39 million, the sixth-largest in the world. Since 2020, average wealth declined by about 4.52 percent in real local-currency terms, and median wealth by more than 10 percent.
13. Germany: $346,613. Germany is home to about 2.65 million USD millionaires, the fourth-largest millionaire population in the world. Financial assets constitute about 43.6 percent of German gross wealth.
The report lists additional countries in the top 12, including Switzerland, Australia, and the United States, though the full data for positions 1 through 12 was not detailed in the source article.
What this means for the naira and Nigerian businesses
For Nigerian readers, the report underscores how currency movements shape wealth rankings. The US dollar weakened against major currencies in 2025, which boosted wealth figures in Europe and Asia. For Nigeria, where the naira has faced persistent pressure, the gap in average wealth per adult between Nigeria and these top markets remains vast. Nigerian businesses and investors should note that financial asset concentration is high among the wealthiest countries, pointing to the importance of capital market development and currency stability for long-term wealth creation at home.