Global Wealth Surges in 2025 with Nearly One Million New Millionaires, Israel Sees Modest Shifts

The 2026 Global Wealth Report by banking giant UBS reveals a record-breaking year in 2025, with nearly one million new millionaires worldwide, averaging about 2,680 new millionaires daily. The United States led this surge, adding over 440,000 new millionaires, maintaining its position as the global financial powerhouse. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia also showed significant growth, with 183,000 and 348,000 millionaires respectively, reflecting rising wealth in the Middle East.

Switzerland remains the wealthiest country on average per adult, with $910,382, followed by the United States at $696,277 and Luxembourg at $654,732. South Korea recorded the highest real growth in average wealth since 2020, increasing by over 55%. Notably, over half of the world's personal wealth is concentrated in just two countries: the United States and China.

Israel experienced a slight drop from 17th to 18th place globally in average wealth per adult, now at $312,108. However, its median wealth ranking improved from 25th to 24th, with a median of $83,843 per adult. The country is home to approximately 195,000 millionaires, with 8,803 new millionaires added in 2025 alone, marking a 4.7% increase. Millionaires constitute about 3.2% of Israel's adult population. Uniquely, 82.1% of Israeli personal wealth is in investable financial assets, the second highest globally after Sweden, while debt accounts for 14.4% of total wealth.

Despite the impressive average wealth growth globally, median wealth declined in most countries, highlighting widening inequality. Professor Yoel Mokir, Nobel laureate in economics, emphasized that long-term prosperity depends more on human capital and technological skills than physical capital. He identified three upcoming technological revolutions poised to reshape the economy: commercial nuclear fusion, mRNA technology revolutionizing medicine, and regenerative technologies potentially extending human lifespan by 50% to 100%. Mokir acknowledged the social costs of rapid progress but stressed that the benefits far outweigh them, noting that life today is better than at any previous time in human history.