The world got richer again in 2024, but not evenly. According to the latest Global Wealth Report by UBS, global wealth growth rebounded by 4.6% in dollar terms, consolidating the recovery that began in 2023. Beneath the surface, however, progress was deeply uneven across regions, countries and population segments.

5 keys to the report:

• The United States and China account for more than half of global personal wealth. Only the U.S. and China account for more than half of global personal wealth.The U.S. alone accounts for 35% of the total.
• The number of dollar millionaires increased by more than 680,000 people in 2024. It is expected that by 2029 there will be 5.3 million more.
• The "EMILLIs" (Everyday Millionaires) -people with between US$1 million and US$5 million in assets- have quadrupled since 2000 and now number more than 52 million.
• Wealth continues to concentrate: the world's billionaires own almost 50% of total wealth.
• Women will play a key role in wealth transfer: they are projected to receive USD 9 trillion of the estimated USD 83 trillion total to be transferred over the next 20-25 years.

What about Latin America? Setback in 2024

Latin America was one of the few regions to see its wealth contract in 2024. While North America grew by 12% and Eastern Europe led with 12.01%, Latin America fell by -1.5% in dollar terms.. This decline occurred despite a positive expansion in countries such as Brazil, which had a real growth of more than 5% in average wealth per adult.

• Mexicoin contrast, showed a notable drop: -18% in average wealth per adult since 2020, albeit with a 16% increase in median wealth, suggesting that the middle class is improving while the wealthiest lose ground.
• Brazilhas the largest number of millionaires in the region (433,000), followed by Mexico (399,000). Both countries represent almost 3% of the global total of millionaires.
• Extreme inequality: Brazil boasts the worst wealth inequality index in the world, with a Gini coefficient of 0.82followed closely by Mexico (0.72), South Africa (0.81) and India (0.74).

Other relevant data:

• In terms of average wealth per adultIn terms of average wealth per adult, Latin America ranks last among all the subregions of the world, with only USD 34,694, far below North America (USD 593,347) and Western Europe (USD 287,688).
• 70% of Latin American adults have less than USD 10,000 in personal wealth, highlighting the lack of access to financial and investment assets.
• Low debt, but few financial assets: Mexico, Brazil and Chile stand out for having low levels of personal debt, but also a low share of financial assets in their wealth, which limits their ability to accumulate wealth in the long term.

What to expect going forward?

UBS projects that wealth growth will continue until the end of the decade, albeit at very different speeds. North America and China will continue to lead, while the weight of emerging markets - including Latin America - will remain stagnant at around 30% of the global total, with no major advances compared to developed countries.

You can review the full report here.

Fynsa

Source: UBS