The Number of Global Millionaires Will Increase By 40% And Exceed 87 Million By 2026

Given the number of stories flooding our screens and newspapers about economic oblivion, it would be natural to assume the next few years will see fewer people becoming wealthy. But the latest projections suggest quite the opposite.

Monezine.com can reveal that even allowing for rapid inflation, global wealth is expected to grow 36% by 2026 - and the number of individuals whose net worth exceeds $1 million will grow even faster.

The rich get richer

A new report reveals that the number of people whose wealth exceeds $1 million will grow 40% by 2026. Today, there are 56.1 million millionaires globally, but this number will leap to an extraordinary 87 million millionaires in the next 4 years. This is in part a product of inflation, as the threshold for qualifying as a millionaire will be lowered. But it also speaks to the capacity for the wealthy to leverage their existing position.

A recent USA survey found that millionaires are more confident about their own outlook than the general economic outlook. While 58% expect the economy to be “weaker” or “much weaker” by the end of the year - only 25% expect to see negative returns on their investments.

They have good precedent for this optimism. In the four years following the financial crash of 2008, 95% of income growth went to the top 1%, while the number of billionaires doubled.

The rich, it would appear, really do get richer - even during a recession. But this doesn’t tell the entire story.

The rising tide

The rich will get richer, but so will many of the less rich. Between 2021-26, 337 million adults are expected to join the ‘global middle class’ - earning between $10,000-$100,000 per year. Not only that: 42% of the growth in global wealth during this period will come from low and middle income countries.

This paints a slightly more nuanced picture. While the extremely wealthy will prosper in the coming years, there is reason to think the general global outlook will improve too.

It is true that the bottom 50% of global citizens currently own less than 1% of global wealth, while the top 10% own 82% of it. But as global wealth increases - and remember, it is expected to do so by 36% between 2021 and 2026 - the amount that all groups have at their disposal will be greater. And though global wealth inequality rose during COVID-19, it is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels in the next few years.

At a time of global financial uncertainty, a rapid rise in the number of millionaires will understandably anger many. But this data can also be taken as a cause for cautious optimism. While the short term will likely be tough for many, the data suggest the long term trend in global wealth remains upward.

Luke Eales, CEO of Moneyzine.com