New York is the richest city in the world, with 359,500 millionaires and 60 billionaires, although California's Bay Area is close behind, according to a new study.
New York's millionaire population has increased 48% in the last decade, despite fears of wealth flight and the Covid-19 pandemic affecting the city's wealthy population, according to a report by Henley & Partners in collaboration with New World Wealth. New York's millionaire population is now larger than the entire population of Orlando or Pittsburgh. New York residents now have more than $3 trillion in wealth, greater than the GDP of Brazil, Italy or Canada.
San Francisco and the Bay Area, however, are quickly catching up. The Bay Area's millionaire population has increased 82% over the past decade, to 305,700 people. The Bay Area leads the billionaire population, with 68 billionaires, according to the report, which compared the world's wealthy populations as of December.
The United States is increasing its leadership as the world's largest creator of millionaires and billionaires. According to the report, the United States is home to 11 of the 50 richest cities.
Over the past decade, the rise of technological wealth combined with the rise of the stock market and deals have created record amounts of wealth. The pandemic fiscal stimulus effectively boosted wealth creation, especially at the top, with the wealth of America's richest 1% increasing more than 40%, according to the Federal Reserve.
“The United States continues to dominate the world's richest cities due to its dominance of 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 when it comes to overall wealth and million-dollar growth,” Amoils added.
Some cities around the world have seen a change of fortune. Tokyo, which a decade ago was the richest city in the world, now occupies third place, with a millionaire population that has decreased by 5%, to 298,300 people.
London, the world's richest city for many years, fell to fifth place as Brexit, Russian sanctions and other policies have slowed the migration of wealth. The city's millionaire population has decreased by 10% over the last decade.
China cracked the top 10 for the first time, with Beijing seeing a 90% increase in the number of millionaires in the last decade, up to 125,600 millionaires. However, the slowdown in its economy and the flight of wealth are causing a reversal in wealth creation, with the millionaire population falling 4% last year, Amoils said.
Singapore, which benefits from the flow of wealth out of China, rose two places to fourth place in the ranking, with a 64% growth in millionaires to 244,800 people. More than 3,400 millionaires have moved to Singapore in 2023 alone, and Amoils said Singapore will take Tokyo's place in the rankings “very soon.”
Los Angeles also moved up the list, moving up two spots to sixth place with a 45% increase in the number of millionaires.
Juerg Steffen, chief executive of Henley & Partners, said financial markets have been the main driver of wealth creation around the world 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% rally, have boosted the fortunes of wealthy investors,” he said. “Rapid advances in artificial intelligence, robotics and blockchain technology have provided 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 City
2. Bay Area, California
3. Tokyo
4. Singapore
5. London
6. Los Angeles
7. Paris and Ile-de-France
8. Sydney
9.Hong Kong
10. Beijing
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