The number of millionaires in Switzerland increased by 13.9 percent from 2019 to 2020. 

In total, there are 438,000 millionaires in Switzerland – meaning the country has the seventh most millionaires of anywhere in the world. 

The figures, compiled by consulting firm Capgemini, are based on US dollars rather than Swiss francs. However, with the exchange rate nominally the same, the figure is unlikely to be dramatically different. 

READ MORE: Which Swiss canton has the most millionaires?

The study looked not only at bank balances but also at all disposable assets. 

Number of millionaires worldwide growing

Nevertheless, Switzerland’s development is fully in line with the global trend: the rich are getting richer – and at a much faster rate than everyone else.

READ ALSO: One percent of Germans ‘own 30 percent of country’s wealth’

According to Capgemini, the number of dollar millionaires worldwide also rose by almost nine percent last year – despite trade wars and geopolitical tensions.

The report estimates that the net worth of wealthy people across the world climbed to 74 trillion dollars at the end of 2019, up 8.7 percent from 2018 and 46 trillion dollars in December 2012.

The population of millionaires reached almost 20 million, including 183,400 with a net worth above 30 million dollars, compared to 18 million dollars in 2018 and just 12 million dollars in 2012.

USA at the top of rich-boom

Here’s one reason for the millionaire boom– fuelled by low interest rates, many real estate prices have risen sharply despite the fact that the economy has already been weakening in 2019.

This was particularly noticeable in the US, where the phenomenon was exacerbated by the consequences of a tax reform where US President Donald Trump massively relieved the burden on companies and corporations.

And now for the technical part: the major US stock market indices all rose rapidly: the S&P went up by almost 29 percent, the Dow Jones by 22 percent, and the Nasdaq increased by more than 35 percent.

This is one of the reasons why the USA is at the top of this year’s rich-boom: the number of millionaires there rose by eleven percent or almost 600,000 to 5.9 million. In 2019, for the first time since 2012, the increase was also higher in North America and Europe than in the Asia-Pacific region (plus 8 percent).

On the list Japan came second after the US with 3.4 million millionaires, followed by Germany, China (1.3 million in 2019) and France (0.7 million).

However, the outlook for 2020 is likely to be significantly different in view of the recession triggered by the pandemic.

According to estimates, investment markets lost up to 18 trillion dollars during the coronavirus crash on the stock markets in March.

Since then, however, there’s been some recovery on the stock markets. We’ll have to wait and see if the crisis seriously impacts the pockets of the super wealthy.