New York is the richest city in the world, with 359,500 millionaires and 60 billionaires, although California’s Bay Area follows closely, according to a new study.
New York’s millionaire population has grown 48% over the past decade, despite fears of wealth flight and the Covid-19 pandemic weakening the city’s affluent population, according to a report by Henley & Partners in collaboration with New World Wealth. New York’s millionaire population now outnumbers the entire population of Orlando or Pittsburgh. New York residents now own more than $3 trillion in wealth, more than the GDPs of Brazil, Italy or Canada.
However, San Francisco and the Bay Area are quickly catching up. The Bay Area’s millionaire population has grown 82% over the past decade, to 305,700 people. The Bay Area leads in billionaire population, with 68 billionaires, according to the report, which compares global wealthy populations in December.
The United States is extending its lead as the world’s largest creator of millionaires and billionaires. The United States is home to 11 of the 50 richest cities, according to the report.
Over the past decade, rising tech wealth, combined with a rising stock market and deal-making, has created record wealth. Pandemic fiscal stimulus has effectively boosted wealth creation, particularly at the top, with the wealth of America’s richest 1% jumping more than 40%, according to the Federal Reserve.
“The United States continues to dominate the world’s richest cities due to its dominance in the global financial, technology and entertainment sectors,” said Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth. “In particular, American cities have significantly outperformed other Western cities over the past decade in terms of overall wealth and millionaire growth,” Amoils added.
Some cities around the world have experienced a reversal of fortune. Tokyo, which was the world’s richest city a decade ago, is now in third place, with its millionaire population down 5%, to 298,300.
London, the world’s richest city for many years, fell to fifth place as Brexit, Russian sanctions and other policies slowed the migration of wealth. The city’s millionaire population has declined by 10% over the past decade.
China ranked in the top 10 for the first time, with Beijing seeing a 90% increase in the number of millionaires over the past decade, to 125,600 millionaires. Yet its economy’s slowdown and wealth flight are causing a reversal in wealth creation, with the millionaire population down 4% last year, Amoils said.
Singapore, benefiting from the influx of wealth out of China, climbed two places to fourth in the ranking, with a 64% growth in the number of millionaires, to 244,800 people. More than 3,400 millionaires have moved to Singapore in 2023 alone, and Amoils said Singapore was poised to take Tokyo’s place in the rankings “very soon”.
Los Angeles also moved up on the list, moving up two spots to sixth place with a 45% increase in millionaires.
Juerg Steffen, CEO of Henley & Partners, said financial markets have been the main driver of wealth creation globally over the past decade.
“The S&P 500’s 24% gain last year, along with the Nasdaq’s 43% rise and Bitcoin’s staggering 155% rise, have buoyed the fortunes of wealthy investors,” he said. “Rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, robotics and blockchain technology have opened up new opportunities for wealth creation and accumulation.”
Here is the complete ranking of the richest cities in the world, according to Henley & Partners and New World Wealth:
1. New York
2. Bay Area, California
3. Tokyo
4. Singapore
5. London
6. Los Angeles
7. Paris and Île-de-France
8. Sydney
9. Hong Kong
10. Beijing
Sign up to receive future editions of CNBC Inside the wealth newsletter with Robert Frank.
cnbc
