Number of world’s billionaires reach record high

According to a Wealth-X report, the global billionaire population and their combined wealth increased sharply, reversing the previous year’s decline.

The number of billionaires known to exist worldwide reached 2,825 last year, 8.5%, or 221 increase from 2018. Their combined wealth rose 10.3% year-over-year to a total of US$9.4 trillion, according to Billionaire Census 2020, a report by Wealth-X.

In 2018, the billionaire population decreased by 5.4% year-over-year, and their total wealth shrank 7%, according to Wealth-X, a global wealth information and insight provider.

The U.S. and China remained the top two countries with the most billionaires. The U.S. accounted for 788 billionaires in 2019, while China had 342, Barron’s explained. The two countries also each accounted for three of the top 15 cities with the largest number of billionaires.

New York had 113 individuals with more than US$1 billion in net worth, followed by Hong Kong with 96 and San Francisco with 77. Beijing ranked sixth with 57 billionaires, according to the report.

The Wealth-X reports come just weeks after the Federal Reserve reported that U.S. household wealth fell 5.6% to $110.8 trillion in the first quarter of this year as U.S. stock markets were hammered by the escalating novel coronavirus epidemic, which has since pushed the United States into recession.