If you’re aiming to become a member of the world’s 1 percent, new data shows just how much you need to reach that threshold.
The property broker Knight Frank recently released its 2023 Wealth Report, and contained within it is a breakdown of the net-worth minimum that catapults residents in 25 countries into the upper echelons of society, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. At the top of the list is Monaco, where you’ll need a whopping $12.4 million to break into the 1 percent. Meanwhile, at the bottom, you need just $20,000 in Kenya.
The Mediterranean nation beats the rest of the pack by a long shot, with Switzerland coming in second with a threshold of $6.6 million. The top five is rounded out by Australia ($5.5 million), New Zealand ($5.2 million), and the United States ($5.1 million). Kenya is joined by the Philippines ($57,000), South Africa ($109,000), India ($175,000), and Mexico ($383,000) at the end of the ranking.
Bloomberg noted how the data highlight the wide gulf between rich and poor nations, thanks in part to the pandemic and the rising cost of living across the globe. The threshold in Monaco, for example, is more than 200 times that in the Philippines.
While lower-income families must spend more of their money on things like food and housing, the richest among us only continue to get richer. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the 500 richest people in the world have collectively gained more than $600 billion just this year. Mark Zuckerberg is on top of that list, having raked in $41.8 billion in a little more than five months. Bernard Arnault is a close second, with $40.6 billion.
“Growing inequality globally could see a greater focus on this group—particularly in the sights for greater taxation on assets and even emissions,” Flora Harley, a partner on Knight Frank’s research team, said in a statement.
While those are all quite impressive dollar amounts, the overall number of ultrahigh-net-worth individuals actually fell last year, dropping 3.8 percent to about 580,000 people.
