Portugal now has 181 thousand millionaires, 6 thousand more than in the previous year, in a context in which global wealth has reached new highs and the number of people with assets exceeding one million dollars continues to increase rapidly. The conclusion is part of an international study that outlines the distribution of wealth in the world and that places the country in 26th place in terms of average wealth per adult.
According to , the data is part of the most recent Global Wealth Report from the Swiss bank UBS, which points to a widespread growth in the number of millionaires and an increasing concentration of assets in financial and real estate assets.
Growth that doesn’t slow down
The study indicates that the world has never had so many individuals with assets exceeding one million dollars. According to the same source, the increase returned to a high pace, with around 2,600 new millionaires per day over the last year, which resulted in almost one million new cases in a single year.
In total, the report estimates the existence of around 57.5 million millionaires globally, equivalent to approximately 1.5% of the world’s adult population. The document also highlights that global wealth grew 10.8% last year, a higher performance than that recorded in previous periods.
Portugal in the European intermediate group
In the Portuguese case, the report indicates that the average wealth per adult was 195,761 dollars, equivalent to around 172,000 euros. According to the same source, this value places Portugal in an intermediate group within the European context, following economies that have registered consistent growth, although still far from the levels of the greatest economic powers.
The country records, however, a less positive evolution in median wealth, which fell from 81.3 thousand to 76.9 thousand dollars. This difference between mean and median is presented in the study as an indicator of greater inequality in the distribution of wealth.
Inequality highlighted in the global portrait
The UBS report points to unequal growth between regions and social classes. According to the same source, the increase in wealth has not been homogeneous, reflecting structural differences between economies and types of assets held.
The appreciation of financial markets and non-financial assets appears as one of the main explanatory factors for global wealth growth. The study adds that real assets, particularly real estate, continue to represent the largest portion of wealth held by millionaires.
United States leads the growth of new millionaires
Globally, around half of the new millionaires will have emerged in the United States, which continues to concentrate a significant part of the world’s wealth creation. This phenomenon reinforces the tendency to concentrate in economies with more dynamic financial markets and greater asset appreciation.
The report also states that the expansion of personal wealth is directly associated with the performance of markets and the evolution of asset prices, in a cycle that has been intensifying in recent years.
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