Charted: Which Country Has the Most Billionaires in 2024?

The New Diplomat
Writer

Ad

$4.5bn: Court Admits More Evidence Against Emefiele

Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on October 9,2025, admitted more evidence against a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, in an alleged $4.5bn fraud. Emefiele is standing trial on a 19-count charge bordering on receiving gratification and corrupt demand preferred against him by…

NEITI Warns of Deepening Transparency Crisis, Says Nigeria Lost $3.3bn to Oil theft, Sabotage

By Obinna Uballa Nigeria lost an estimated 13.5 million barrels of crude oil valued at $3.3 billion to theft and pipeline sabotage between 2023 and 2024, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has revealed. Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr. Ogbonnaya Orji, disclosed this on Thursday at the 2025 Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria…

Oil Eases over 1.5% after Gaza ceasefire

Summary Israel and Hamas agree to Gaza ceasefire, return of hostages US oil product supplied highest since December 2022, EIA says Stalled peace talks in Ukraine underpin prices Oil prices edged slightly lower on Thursday after Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas signed an agreement to cease fire in Gaza. Brent crude futures were…

Ad

By Pallavi Rao

The world has always had people with incredible wealth: from Roman emperors to John D. Rockefeller who became the world’s first billionaire in measurable dollars. But where do the very wealthiest people live right now?

We visualize the countries with the most billionaires in 2024, sourced from the annual Hurun Global Rich list. A country and city aggregate is also available here.

caveat to this data. Total wealth estimates are notoriously difficult to get right, and different sources can vary in their billionaire data. For example, Forbes, switches ranks for the U.S. and China, though the overall top three remain the same.

Forbes also has Bernard Arnault as the current richest individual, while Hurun places Elon Musk atop the ranks. Nevertheless, their overall top 10 is similar with a few ranking differences.

Ranked: Countries with the Most Billionaires in 2024

China has 814 billionaires, the most in the world, according to the Hurun Global Rich List 2024. Despite holding on to the top spot, China lost 155 billionaires year-over-year, while the U.S. gained 109. The gap between the two countries has now reduced to just 14 billionaires.

Rank Country Billionaires Change YoY
1 🇨🇳 China 814 -155
2 🇺🇸 U.S. 800 +109
3 🇮🇳 India 271 +84
4 🇬🇧 UK 146 +12
5 🇩🇪 Germany 140 -4
6 🇨🇭 Switzerland 106 +6
7 🇷🇺 Russia 76 +6
8 🇮🇹 Italy 69 +11
9 🇫🇷 France 68 -4
10 🇧🇷 Brazil 64 +13
11 🇨🇦 Canada 53 +8
12 🇹🇭 Thailand 49 +3
13 🇮🇩 Indonesia 47 +12
14 🇦🇺 Australia 45 0
15 🇯🇵 Japan 44 +12
16 🇸🇬 Singapore 42 +5
17 🇰🇷 South Korea 37 +4
18 🇮🇱 Israel 29 +9
19 🇪🇸 Spain 27 +1
20 🇸🇪 Sweden 25 -2
N/A 🌍 Other 327 N/A

Together, the U.S. and China account for nearly half of the 3,279 billionaires globally, leagues ahead of closest peers, #3 India (271) and #4 UK (146).

Collectively however, European countries account for six of the top 10 and eight of the top 20 countries with the most billionaires.

Naturally, the world’s largest economies tend to be overrepresented on billionaire counts, as they provide more opportunities for wealth creation.

SwitzerlandSingapore, and Sweden are outliers in this regard, with only one of them making the top 20 economies by total gross domestic product.

All three countries are perceived to have high tax rates, generally not conducive to amassing wealth. But perceptions can be misleading. Sweden, for example, has no inheritance tax, a flat rate on capital gains, and a corporate tax rate at 21%.

Source: Visual Capitalist 

Ad

Unlocking Opportunities in the Gulf of Guinea during UNGA80
X whatsapp