Millionaires Have 39% of the World’s Money

Less than 1% of the world's population controls almost half of the money
By Tim Karan,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 1, 2011 4:40 PM CDT
Millionaires Have 39% of the World's Money
Millionaires control 39% of the world's wealth, according to a new report.   (Shutterstock)

If you're wondering where all your money has gone, odds are a millionaire added it to his or her pile. Although millionaires make up just 0.9% of the world's population, they control 39% of its wealth—up 2% since 2009—according to a report by Boston Consulting Group. Their collective wealth has risen from $41.8 trillion to $47.4 trillion, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The number of millionaire households—those with $1 million or more in investable assets not including homes, company ownership and luxury goods—also swelled by 12.2% last year to 12.5 million. The US boasts far more millionaires than any other country with 5.2 million, followed by Japan with 1.5 million. The super-rich keep getting super-richer, too, as those with $5 million or more gained an additional 2% of the world's wealth last year, increasing their total to 22% of all the money in the world. (More millionaires stories.)

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