More dollar millionaires in France than in UK, study finds

In 2022, France was home to the third most dollar millionaires in the world, ahead of Japan, Germany and the UK, but behind the US and China.

According to the Global Wealth Report 2023, which studies the dollar assets of the global population for the previous year, the following are the top nations in terms of millions of millionaires:

1- US - 22.7

2- China - 6.23

3- France - 2.82

4- Japan - 2.76

5- Germany - 2.63

6- UK - 2.56

Stable growth in France

The number of dollar millionaires in France has been on an upward trend since 2017 coinciding with the election of President Macron. The number had fallen between 2014 and 2017 under Socialist President François Hollande.

At the current exchange rate, one million dollars is worth €915,880 - too low for the owner to have to declare for France’s annual ‘property wealth tax.’ The Global Wealth Report takes the total value of assets into account, including real estate, which has seen several years of growth in value in France.

On a global level, however, the number of millionaires has seen a sharp decrease. In 2022 there were 3.5 million fewer millionaires than in 2021, with the UK alone losing 439,000, enough to fall behind a resurgent France. This can in part be attributed to the slow Covid recovery, inflation, high interest rates and instability in the currency markets.

Read also: $193bn: how did this French businessman get so rich?

In addition to the relative strength of the Euro, the tendency of French wealth to be tied to property value has sheltered it somewhat from the global downward trend.

The Global Wealth Report also evaluated the wealth of high-value multimillionaires (people with more than $50 million in assets), finding that last year there were 243,060 globally, down by 22,490 from the previous year.

For the rest of us, there has been a similar decline: Average wealth is down to $84,718 from $87,918 in 2021, and for lesser mortals high inflation and high interest rates bite closer to the bone.

A positive forecast

Nonetheless, UBS, the authors of the study, suggest that the outlook is good. The global median wealth increased by 3%, meaning that inequality is down slightly. They do, however, predict a return to growth for the number of millionaires for the coming years

Related articles:

Seven tax considerations to check when moving to France permanently

French property watch: Why buy in Loire-Atlantique and average prices