The Wealthiest Cities in the World: New York Tops the List with 359,500 Millionaires and 60 Billionaires

New York is the richest city in the world, with 359,500 millionaires and 60 billionaires, although the California Bay Area is close behind, according to a new study.

New York’s millionaire population has grown by 48% in the past decade, despite fears that wealth flight and the COVID-19 pandemic will wipe out the city’s wealthy population, according to a report by Henley & Partners in collaboration with New World Wealth.

New York’s millionaire population now exceeds the combined numbers of Orlando or Pittsburgh. New Yorkers now have over $3 trillion in wealth, more than the GDPs of Brazil, Italy or Canada.

San Francisco and the Bay Area, however, are catching up quickly. The population of millionaires in the Bay Area has increased by 82% in the last decade, to 305,700 people. The Bay Area leads the population of billionaires, with 68 billion, according to the report, which compared the world’s wealthy populations as of December.

The United States is increasing its advantage as the largest creator of millionaires and billionaires in the world. According to the report, 11 of the 50 richest cities are in the US.

Over the past decade, an increase in technological wealth, along with a rise in the stock market and trading deals, has created so much wealth. The pandemic fiscal stimulus has accelerated wealth creation, especially at the top, with the wealth of the richest 1% in America increasing by more than 40%, according to the Federal Reserve.

“The United States continues to dominate the world’s wealthiest cities because of its dominance in the global financial, technology and entertainment sectors,” said Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth. “In particular, American cities have outperformed other Western cities in the past decade when it comes to global wealth and millionaire growth,” Amoils said.

In some cities around the world change has come. Tokyo, which was the richest city in the world ten years ago, is now in third place, with its millionaire population falling 5% to 298,300 people.

London, the world’s richest city for several years, has fallen 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% in the last ten years.

China slipped into the top 10 for the first time, with a 90% increase in millionaires in Beijing in the past decade, reaching 125,600 millionaires. However, the slowdown of its economy and the flight of wealth is causing an obstacle in the creation of wealth, with a decrease in the population of millionaires of 4% last year, according to Amoils.

Singapore, which is benefiting from the flow of wealth from China, rose two places to fourth place in the ranking, with the number of millionaires growing by 64% to 244,800 people. More than 3,400 million people will move to Singapore in 2023 alone, and Amoils said Singapore will replace Tokyo in the rankings “very soon”.

Los Angeles also moved up the list, rising two places to sixth place with a 45% jump in the number of millionaires.

Juerg Steffen, CEO of Henley & Partners, said that financial markets have been the main driver of wealth creation around the world over the past decade.

“The S&P 500’s 24% rise last year, combined with the Nasdaq’s 43% rise and bitcoin’s astonishing 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 overall ranking of the richest cities in the world, according to Henley & Partners and New World Wealth:

1. NY
2. Bay Area, California
3. Tokyo
4. Singapore
5. London
6. The Angels
7. Paris and Île-de-France
8. Sydney
9. Hong Kong
10. Beijing