The number of 'high net worth individuals' — defined as people with liquid assets of at least $1 million — rose by 5.1 percent last year to 22.8 million, according to consulting firm Capgemini.Their total wealth reached $86.8 trillion in 2023, a 4.7 percent increase from the previous year, according to the annual World Wealth Report.The number of HNWI and their total wealth are the highest since Capgemini began the annual study in 1997.
The number of HNWI and their wealth had each fallen by more than 3 percent in 2022, a year of macroeconomic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions, the report said.The decline in their wealth was the steepest in a decade as equities fell.'However, 2023 brought economic growth and improved fortunes for major investment sectors to reverse the falloff,' the report said.