Top 25 Countries With The Most Billionaires
Which country has the most billionaires? The answer, by far, is the United States, with 565 billionaires, from Jeff Bezos to Larry Page to Michael Bloomberg. But while the U.S. is the country with the most billionaires, there are plenty of places around the world that are home to some of the wealthiest people. Here’s our list of billionaires by country and where they’re living around the globe.
Top 25 Countries With The Most Billionaires infographicTop 25 Countries with the Most Billionaires (And Who They Are)
| Country | Number of Billionaires | Richest Person in that Country |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 565 | Jeff Bezos How: Entrepreneur Company: Amazon Net Worth: $110.7 billion Self-Made |
| China | 319 | Wang Jianlin How: Real Estate Company: Dalian Wanda Group Net Worth: $25.5 billion Self-Made |
| Germany | 114 | Bette Heister How: Inheritance Company: Aldi Net Worth: $31.1 billion |
| India | 101 | Mukesh Ambani How: Refining Oil Company: Reliance Industries Limited Net Worth: 41.3 billion Self-Made |
| Russia | 96 | Leonid Mikhelson How: Gas Company: Novatek Net Worth: $18.4 billion Self-Made |
| Hong Kong | 67 | Li Ka-shing How: Entrepreneur, Investing Company: Cheung Kong Holdings Net Worth: $36.7 billion Self-Made |
| United Kingdom | 54 | S.P. Hinduja How: Investing Company: Hinduja Group Net Worth: $21 billion Self-Made |
| Brazil | 43 | Jorge Paulo Lemann How: Investing Company: 3G Capital Net Worth: $29.7 billion Self-made |
| Italy | 42 | Maria Franca Fissolo How: Inheritance (Marriage) Company: Ferrero Net Worth: $32.3 billion |
| Canada | 39 | David Thomson How: Inheritance, Media Company: Reuters Net Worth: $27.2 billion |
| France | 38 | Bernard Arnault How: Company: LVMH Net Worth: $69.2 billion |
| South Korea | 38 | Lee Kun-hee How: Inheritance, Business Company: Samsung Net worth: $7.2 billion |
| Switzerland | 36 | Ernesto Bertarelli How: Pharmaceuticals, Investing Company: Waypoint Capital, Merck-Serono Net worth: $9 billion |
| Australia | 33 | Gina Rinehart How: Inheritance, Mining Company: Hancock Prospecting Net worth: $8.5 billion |
| Japan | 33 | Masayoshi Son How: Entrepreneur, Telecommunications Company: Softbank Net worth: $23 billion Self-made |
| Sweden | 31 |
Stefan Persson How: Inheritance, Investing |
| Taiwan | 31 | Terry Gou How: Entrepreneur, Electronics Company: Foxconn Net worth: $10.6 billion Self-Made |
| Turkey | 29 | Murat Ülker How: Food Company: Yıldız Holding Net worth: $3.9 billion Self-Made |
| Spain | 25 | Amancio Ortega How: Clothing Company: Inditex (Zara) Net worth: $76.1 billion Self-Made |
| Singapore | 21 | Robert and Philip Ng How: Inheritance, Real Estate Company: Sino Group Net worth: $9.7 billion |
| Indonesia | 20 | Robert Budi Hartono How: Tobacco Company: Djarum Net worth: $12.6 billion Self-made |
| Thailand | 20 | Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi How: Beverages Company: ThaiBev Net worth: $19.9 billion Self-made |
| Israel | 18 | Eyal Ofer How: Inheritance, Shipping Company: Ofer Global Net worth: $9.7 billion |
| Mexico | 15 | Carlos Slim Helú How: Business, Investing Company: Telmex, Grupo Carso Net worth: $69.2 billion Self-made |
| Philippines | 14 | Henry Sy How: Business, Investing Company: SM Group Net worth: $21.7 billion Self-made |
First off, how many billionaires are there in the world? The answer is 1,550 total, according to UBS. Only eight individuals at the top of this list of billionaires own the same amount of wealth as half of the population of the world. Those men are Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Jeff Bezos, Amancio Ortega, Mark Zuckerberg, Carlos Slim, Larry Ellison, and Michael Bloomberg. Six of the eight are American. The top earner, Bill Gates, is due to perhaps someday become the world’s first trillionaire, as he’s currently worth around $86 billion; however, he frequently gives his money away via the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Of the official billionaire’s list, 130 are above the illustrious $10 billion mark. There also happen to be 36 million millionaires around the world. That seems like a lot until you remember that the world’s population is 7.6 billion people; billionaires represent roughly 0.000002039 percent of the population, and millionaires represent 0.0473 percent.
If the U.S. is the country with the most billionaires, where else do the worlds wealthiest hang their hats? Which countries have the most billionaires besides America? China is home to 319 of them, including real estate guru Wang Jianlin and Alibaba creator Jack Ma. Chinese entrepreneurs are climbing up the list quickly. The third is Germany with 114, and fourth is India at 101. Russia comes in fifth with 96. How many billionaires in the world live in other places? Other countries, such as France, Italy, Australia, and Hong Kong, are home to 355 others. That’s not too surprising, though; where billionaires live is usually where they work, and the world’s billionaires tend to congregate around the world’s richest cities.
How many billionaires in America live in cities versus the rural U.S.? We’ve organized them by state, and yes, many prefer New York, California, and other states with major cities.
The number of billionaires in the U.S. might outshine their Chinese and Russian counterparts, but the rate of the rise of their contemporaries in other countries has raised eyebrows. This is often seen as a result of their country’s more successful economies. On the other hand, if you compare how many billionaires there are in the U.S. per capita, there’s a different story to study, since population figures vary widely. How many billionaires in the U.S. are there per capita? For every billionaire, there are 571,858 people. Compare that to China, where there are 4 million people for every one billionaire.
The top billionaires in the world aren’t always symptomatic of the economies they come from, but the world’s wealthy countries often have their fair share of high-end decision-makers, like Bill Gates or Jack Ma. Hopefully, these leaders of our economies will continue to help steer these markets in positive directions.
