These five cities from the United States, Asia, and Europe have the most number of millionaires and billionaires in the world this 2024.
Recently, wealth migration firm Henley & Partners released their World’s Wealthiest Cities Report 2024. The annual report aims to provide helpful insights on private wealth and investment migration trends, which includes data on the Top 50 Cities for Millionaires. These cities are financial hotspots, with a staggering number of millionaires, centi-millionaires, and billionaires among its residents.
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This year’s data reveals five particular cities in its top five, including two from the United States, another two from Asia, and one from Europe in fifth place. It’s important to note that the firm’s definition of wealth refers to “an individual’s liquid investable wealth, which only includes listed company holdings, cash holdings, and debt-free residential property holdings,” as it states in its methodology.
To learn more, below are today’s billionaire capitals:
New York City, USA
New York City takes the crown as the foremost billionaire capital in the world. According to the data, the city is home to 60 billionaires (those with a net worth of over $1 billion USD), 744 centi-millionaires (those with a net worth of more than $100 million USD), and 349,000 millionaires (those with a net worth of more than $1 million USD).
Being one of the centers of the world’s arts and culture scene, as well as tech and finance, it comes as no surprise that the Big Apple is at the very top of the list. “The total wealth held by the Big Apple’s residents now exceeds USD 3 trillion — higher than the total wealth held in most major G20 countries,” Henley & Partners adds in its official press release.
“The U.S. continues to dominate the world’s wealthiest cities due to its dominance of the global financial, tech and entertainment sectors,” explained Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth (the research firm that collaborated with Henley & Partners on the list), to Robert Frank of CNBC.
The Bay Area, USA
As Amoils makes clear, the United States remains a formidable figure when it comes to its growing billionaire population. The second richest city in the world also hails from the country: The Bay Area, California, which encompasses both San Francisco and Silicon Valley.
Given the rise of the tech industry, the statistics make complete sense. The Bay Area also exhibits an impressive millionaire growth rate of 82 percent over the past decade (2013 to 2023). This makes it the second American city with the highest growth rate, tied at eighth place alongside India’s city of Mumbai.
The list’s research shows that The Bay Area is home to 305,700 millionaires, 675 centi-millionaires, and 68 billionaires.
Tokyo, Japan
Next in the list is Japan’s capital of Tokyo, which has been experiencing a rise in its number of billionaires over the years. It once topped the list of world’s wealthiest cities 10 years ago before experiencing a five percent decline in its resident high-net-worth-individual (HNWI) population. After another decade, it surpasses other cities on the list at the top third spot with 298,300 millionaires, 267 centi-millionaires, and 14 billionaires.
Singapore
Another Asian city has also made it to the list’s top five: Singapore. Both a sovereign country and city-state, Singapore has experienced a 64 percent increase in millionaires over the decade, making its way to fourth place in the global rankings. Henley & Partners’ adds that the city-state may soon unseat Tokyo with its rapid growth.
“Widely regarded as the most business-friendly city on earth, Singapore is also one of the world’s top destinations for migrating millionaires—approximately 3,400 HNWIs moved there in 2023 alone,” the press release writes. Today, the city-state has 244,800 millionaires, 336 centi-millionaires, and 30 billionaires in its ranks.
London, UK
Last but certainly not least is the United Kingdom’s capital of London, which has long found a place in the list of top wealthiest cities. This year, it places fifth globally, with 227,000 millionaires, 370 centi-millionaires, and 35 billionaires.
That said, research shows that the city is falling behind, and has slowly been losing its top spot in the rankings over the years with a decline rate of 10 percent. As Adam Gale points out in an article for Fortune, the falling numbers may be due in large part to the Brexit vote in 2016.
He quotes a comment made by former Lloyds Bank Commercial chief economist Trevor Williams for PR Newswire last 2023: “Coupled with the policy change to remove permanent non-domiciled taxpayer status, Brexit has made the UK less hospitable and welcoming to HNWIs.” Still, at top five, London has a chance to recover and steadily make its way back to the top in the coming years, despite these challenges.
Banner photo by Trevor Hayes via Unsplash.
