The number of billionaires in the world increased by 155 this year, pushing the total number of billionaires to a record 2,325, according to Wealth-X and UBS.
The Wealth-X and UBS Billionaire Census 2014 shows that the total wealth of the world’s billionaires is now $7.3 trillion, more than the combined market capitalization of all the companies that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
The billionaire’s combined wealth represents a 12 percent increase over last year, says Wealth-X, a resource and research organization for the ultra-wealthy.
Wealth-X and UBS measured billionaires by their total numbers and their total wealth. Europe now has the most billionaires (775) and tops the list for regions with the most billionaire wealth ($2.37 trillion). Europe deposed North America from the top spot of billionaire wealth.
When the numbers are broken down by nations, the United States tops the list with 571.
But Asia, including China, has seen the biggest jump in billionaire wealth with an 18.7 percent increase over last year. Latin America and the Caribbean had the biggest gain in the number of billionaires with a 37.8 percent jump to 153 billionaires.
The number of billionaires in the Middle East shrank a little less than 2 percent, but the region's wealth rose by nearly 17 percent.
The billionaire populations in emerging markets have shown mixed signals. In Latin America, the number of billionaires grew faster than in any other region, but the average net worth of the billionaires fell by 24 percent. In Africa, the total number of billionaires decreased but the population's total wealth grew.
Most billionaires have between $1 billion and $10 billion and only 116 have more than $10 billion. The average billionaire’s wealth rose by 4.4 percent to $3.1 billion.
The average age for billionaires is 63, a number that is edging upwards, but only 286 of them are female.
Billionaires seem to be waiting to invest, according to Wealth-X, which says billionaires increased their liquid holdings this year by an average of $600 million.
“The massive wave of intergenerational wealth transfer from baby boomers to their heirs is underway, and this has had a profound impact on the world’s billionaire population: Billionaires with partially inherited wealth are the fastest growing segment of this population,” says Wealth-X.
“Yet, one of the common characteristics of the world’s billionaires is their entrepreneurialism. In most instances, achieving billionaire status requires more than just inheritance; 81 percent of billionaires made the majority of their fortunes themselves,” the study concludes.
