The Country Where One Billionaire Owns 18.9% Of The Wealth, And Other Nations With Extreme Inequality

According to the latest Forbes data, there are now over 3,000 billionaires on planet Earth, nearly triple the number of billionaires 15 years ago. After the COVID-19 pandemic triggered the largest upward transfer of wealth in history, with the world’s ten wealthiest men doubling their collective fortunes from $700 billion to $1.5 trillion, money is now more concentrated among the top one percent of earners than ever before.

Globally, billionaires account for 1.7% of wealth. In some countries, billionaire wealth is even more concentrated, accounting for more than 4.0% of domestic wealth. The countries where billionaires own the most wealth tend to have high inequality in general, or have billionaire-friendly tax laws that attract the ultra wealthy. In one country, one single billionaire owns 18.9% of all domestic wealth – a staggering proportion. A closer look at the data reveals the countries where billionaires own the most wealth.

To determine the countries where billionaires own the most wealth, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data from the World Bank and Forbes Real Time Billionaires List. Countries were ranked based on total billionaire wealth as of December 31, 2024 as a percentage of total domestic wealth. Data on total billionaire wealth is aggregated from Forbes data and is based on country of residence. Data on domestic wealth is from the World Bank and is based on domestic wealth accounts.

40. South Korea

• Total billionaire wealth: $105.0 billion (0.8% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $13.5 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 38 individuals
• Total population: 51,712,619 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Jay Y. Lee ($11.5B), Michael Kim ($9.7B), Seo Jung-jin ($7.3B), Cho Jung-ho ($6.3B), Mong-Koo Chung ($4.9B), Kim Beom-su ($4.6B), Hong Ra-hee ($4.3B), Lee Boo-jin ($4.0B), Euisun Chung ($3.7B), Lee Seo-hyun ($3.6B)

39. Luxembourg

• Total billionaire wealth: $4.7 billion (0.8% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $579.1 billion
• Total billionaire count: 1 individual
• Total population: 666,430 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Paola Del Vecchio ($4.7B)

38. Bahrain

• Total billionaire wealth: $1.5 billion (0.9% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $174.4 billion
• Total billionaire count: 1 individual
• Total population: 1,577,059 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Robert Mouawad ($1.5B)

37. Australia

• Total billionaire wealth: $201.8 billion (0.9% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $21.9 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 45 individuals
• Total population: 26,658,948 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Gina Rinehart ($30.8B), Andrew Forrest & family ($19.0B), Harry Triguboff ($16.5B), Mike Cannon-Brookes ($13.3B), Scott Farquhar ($13.0B), Anthony Pratt ($10.6B), Richard White ($8.2B), Kerry Stokes ($6.6B), Blair Parry-Okeden ($6.1B), Melanie Perkins ($4.4B)

36. Canada

• Total billionaire wealth: $210.7 billion (1.0% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $21.0 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 44 individuals
• Total population: 40,097,761 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: David Thomson & family ($67.8B), Jim Pattison ($9.3B), Alain Bouchard ($8.0B), Anthony von Mandl ($7.7B), Tobi Lutke ($6.9B), Chip Wilson ($6.8B), Arthur Irving ($6.3B), James Irving ($5.6B), Peter Gilgan ($5.5B), Daryl Katz ($5.0B)

35. Brazil

• Total billionaire wealth: $154.9 billion (1.0% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $15.3 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 60 individuals
• Total population: 211,140,729 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Marcel Herrmann Telles & family ($10.9B), David Velez & family ($10.8B), Fernando Roberto Moreira Salles ($7.6B), Pedro Moreira Salles ($7.1B), Andre Esteves ($6.6B), Miguel Krigsner ($5.7B), Walther Moreira Salles Junior ($5.3B), Joao Moreira Salles ($5.3B), Jorge Moll Filho & family ($4.5B), Alceu Elias Feldmann & family ($3.7B)

34. Germany

• Total billionaire wealth: $505.7 billion (1.1% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $47.8 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 110 individuals
• Total population: 83,280,000 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Dieter Schwarz ($38.0B), Reinhold Wuerth & family ($33.6B), Stefan Quandt ($27.3B), Susanne Klatten ($26.5B), Karl Albrecht Jr. & family ($15.9B), Theo Albrecht, Jr. & family ($14.0B), Hasso Plattner & family ($12.1B), Georg Schaeffler ($10.9B), Friedhelm Loh ($10.6B), Thomas Struengmann & family ($9.8B)

33. Armenia

• Total billionaire wealth: $1.1 billion (1.1% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $102.7 billion
• Total billionaire count: 1 individual
• Total population: 2,990,900 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Ruben Vardanyan & family ($1.1B)

32. Malaysia

• Total billionaire wealth: $31.3 billion (1.1% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $2.8 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 10 individuals
• Total population: 35,126,298 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Quek Leng Chan ($8.8B), Ananda Krishnan ($4.9B), Koon Poh Keong ($3.7B), Lee Yeow Chor ($3.1B), Lim Kok Thay ($2.3B), Lee Yeow Seng ($2.3B), Jeffrey Cheah ($2.0B), Lau Cho Kun ($1.5B), William Teh Lee Pang ($1.4B), Syed Mokhtar AlBukhary ($1.3B)

31. South Africa

• Total billionaire wealth: $29.4 billion (1.1% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $2.6 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 6 individuals
• Total population: 63,212,384 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Johann Rupert & family ($12.2B), Nicky Oppenheimer & family ($9.5B), Patrice Motsepe ($2.7B), Koos Bekker ($2.6B), Christoffel Wiese ($1.2B), Michiel Le Roux ($1.2B)

30. Denmark

• Total billionaire wealth: $49.1 billion (1.1% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $4.3 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 8 individuals
• Total population: 5,946,952 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Anders Holch Povlsen ($12.5B), Niels Peter Louis-Hansen ($7.4B), Agnete Kirk Thinggaard ($6.5B), Thomas Kirk Kristiansen ($6.5B), Sofie Kirk Kristiansen ($6.5B), Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen ($6.0B), Bent Jensen & Family ($2.4B), Benedicte Find ($1.3B)

29. Greece

• Total billionaire wealth: $15.9 billion (1.2% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $1.4 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 6 individuals
• Total population: 10,405,588 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Maria Angelicoussis ($6.4B), Constantinos Martinos & family ($2.3B), Vardis Vardinoyannis & family ($2.1B), Andreas Martinos & family ($1.8B), Marianna Latsis & family ($1.8B), Athanasios Martinos & family ($1.5B)

28. Belgium

• Total billionaire wealth: $58.6 billion (1.2% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $5.0 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 7 individuals
• Total population: 11,787,423 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Giovanni Ferrero ($43.8B), Gerald Frere ($3.3B), Segolene Gallienne ($3.1B), Theo Roussis & Family ($3.0B), Pierre van der Mersch ($2.2B), Fabien Pinckaers ($2.1B), Peter Kamprad ($1.1B)

27. China

• Total billionaire wealth: $1.4 trillion (1.2% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $116.8 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 427 individuals
• Total population: 1,410,710,000 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Zhong Shanshan ($62.3B), Colin Huang ($38.9B), William Ding ($33.5B), Ma Huateng ($30.2B), He Xiangjian & family ($25.1B), Jack Ma ($24.5B), Robin Zeng ($22.9B), Eric Li ($16.8B), Qin Yinglin ($15.5B), Li Xiting ($15.1B)

26. Turkey

• Total billionaire wealth: $53.8 billion (1.3% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $4.3 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 26 individuals
• Total population: 85,325,965 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Murat Ulker ($5.1B), Saban Cemil Kazanci ($3.5B), Ipek Kirac ($3.1B), Semahat Sevim Arsel ($3.0B), Ibrahim Erdemoglu ($2.8B), Mustafa Rahmi Koc ($2.7B), Erman Ilicak ($2.7B), Ali Erdemoglu ($2.5B), Ferit Faik Sahenk ($2.4B), Filiz Sahenk ($2.2B)

25. Uruguay

• Total billionaire wealth: $7.1 billion (1.3% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $563.0 billion
• Total billionaire count: 3 individuals
• Total population: 3,388,081 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Alejandro Bulgheroni ($4.9B), Sergio Fogel ($1.1B), Andres Bzurovski Bay ($1.1B)

24. Italy

• Total billionaire wealth: $190.3 billion (1.3% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $14.8 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 61 individuals
• Total population: 58,993,475 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Giorgio Armani ($11.3B), Piero Ferrari ($8.6B), Massimiliana Landini Aleotti & family ($7.6B), Sergio Stevanato & family ($7.0B), Miuccia Prada ($6.4B), Patrizio Bertelli ($6.4B), Gianfelice Rocca ($5.6B), Giuseppe De’Longhi & family ($4.8B), Marisa Del Vecchio ($4.7B), Luca Del Vecchio ($4.7B)

23. Chile

• Total billionaire wealth: $34.9 billion (1.3% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $2.7 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 5 individuals
• Total population: 19,658,835 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Iris Fontbona & family ($25.7B), Horst Paulmann & family ($3.4B), Julio Ponce Lerou ($2.6B), Roberto Angelini Rossi ($1.8B), Patricia Angelini Rossi ($1.4B)

22. Latvia

• Total billionaire wealth: $4.3 billion (1.3% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $324.0 billion
• Total billionaire count: 1 individual
• Total population: 1,877,445 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Pyotr Aven ($4.3B)

21. United Kingdom

• Total billionaire wealth: $416.3 billion (1.6% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $26.5 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 83 individuals
• Total population: 68,350,000 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Len Blavatnik ($32.1B), Kushal Pal Singh ($20.9B), John Fredriksen ($16.9B), James Ratcliffe ($16.5B), Lakshmi Mittal ($16.4B), Idan Ofer ($15.8B), Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken & family ($14.1B), James Dyson ($13.6B), Alexander Gerko ($10.4B), David Reuben ($9.6B)

20. Sweden

• Total billionaire wealth: $111.7 billion (1.6% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $7.0 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 28 individuals
• Total population: 10,536,632 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Stefan Persson ($16.6B), Antonia Ax:son Johnson & family ($10.2B), Carl Bennet ($8.5B), Fredrik Lundberg ($8.2B), Eric Douglas ($6.4B), Carl Douglas ($6.4B), Martin Lorentzon ($5.9B), Märta Schörling Andreen ($5.6B), Sofia Högberg Schörling ($5.6B), Daniel Ek ($4.2B)

19. Spain

• Total billionaire wealth: $175.4 billion (1.6% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $10.7 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 27 individuals
• Total population: 48,347,910 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Amancio Ortega ($103.0B), Sandra Ortega Mera ($9.3B), Rafael Del Pino ($6.0B), Juan Roig ($5.5B), Juan Carlos Escotet ($4.4B), Isak Andic & family ($4.0B), Maria Del Pino ($3.3B), Alicia Koplowitz ($3.2B), Hortensia Herrero ($3.2B), Tomas Olivo Lopez ($3.1B)

18. Philippines

• Total billionaire wealth: $49.2 billion (1.8% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $2.8 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 16 individuals
• Total population: 114,891,199 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Manuel Villar ($11.0B), Enrique Razon Jr. ($10.0B), Ramon Ang ($3.5B), Hans Sy ($2.6B), Lucio Tan ($2.5B), Herbert Sy ($2.5B), Henry Sy, Jr. ($2.5B), Harley Sy ($2.4B), Teresita Sy-Coson ($2.3B), Elizabeth Sy ($2.1B)

17. France

• Total billionaire wealth: $574.4 billion (1.8% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $32.1 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 46 individuals
• Total population: 68,287,487 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Bernard Arnault & family ($233.0B), Francoise Bettencourt Meyers & family ($99.5B), François Pinault & family ($31.6B), Emmanuel Besnier ($25.5B), Vincent Bolloré & family ($10.0B), Xavier Niel ($9.9B), Marie-Hélène Habert-Dassault ($9.4B), Thierry Dassault ($9.4B), Laurent Dassault ($9.4B), Giancarlo Devasini ($9.2B)

16. Austria

• Total billionaire wealth: $77.0 billion (1.8% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $4.2 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 8 individuals
• Total population: 9,131,761 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Mark Mateschitz ($39.6B), Georg Stumpf ($12.6B), Johann Graf ($7.1B), Renate Reimann-Haas ($5.6B), Stefan Reimann-Andersen ($5.6B), Wolfgang Leitner ($2.7B), Christian Birkenstock ($2.5B), Michael Tojner ($1.3B)

15. Thailand

• Total billionaire wealth: $84.7 billion (1.9% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $4.5 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 26 individuals
• Total population: 71,702,435 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Dhanin Chearavanont ($12.5B), Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi ($11.3B), Sarath Ratanavadi ($10.7B), Sumet Jiaravanon ($5.5B), Jaran Chiaravanont ($5.4B), Vanich Chaiyawan ($3.8B), Prasert Prasarttong-Osoth ($3.7B), Somurai Jaruphnit ($3.1B), Prayudh Mahagitsiri ($2.2B), Wichai Thongtang ($2.1B)

14. Czech Republic

• Total billionaire wealth: $44.1 billion (2.0% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $2.2 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 7 individuals
• Total population: 10,864,042 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Renata Kellnerova & family ($18.0B), Daniel Kretinsky ($9.4B), Pavel Tykac ($7.7B), Andrej Babis ($3.5B), Pavel Baudis ($2.3B), Marek Dospiva ($1.8B), Eduard Kucera ($1.4B)

13. Israel

• Total billionaire wealth: $85.6 billion (2.1% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $4.1 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 32 individuals
• Total population: 9,756,600 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Viatcheslav Kantor ($9.8B), Frank Lowy ($6.5B), Teddy Sagi ($6.4B), Stef Wertheimer & family ($6.3B), Shari Arison ($5.5B), Yitzhak Tshuva ($4.5B), Gil Shwed ($4.4B), Arnon Milchan ($3.4B), Michael Federmann & family ($3.4B), David Wertheim ($2.4B)

12. United States

• Total billionaire wealth: $5.8 trillion (2.2% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $261.4 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 834 individuals
• Total population: 334,914,895 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Elon Musk ($195.0B), Jeff Bezos ($194.0B), Mark Zuckerberg ($177.0B), Larry Ellison ($141.0B), Warren Buffett ($133.0B), Bill Gates ($128.0B), Steve Ballmer ($121.0B), Larry Page ($114.0B), Sergey Brin ($110.0B), Michael Bloomberg ($106.0B)

11. Mexico

• Total billionaire wealth: $196.5 billion (2.4% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $8.2 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 20 individuals
• Total population: 129,739,759 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Carlos Slim Helu & family ($102.0B), Germán Larrea Mota Velasco & family ($27.9B), Ricardo Salinas Pliego & family ($13.4B), Alejandro Baillères Gual & family ($8.1B), Maria Asuncion Aramburuzabala & family ($6.3B), Juan Domingo Beckmann Legorreta & family ($4.6B), Carlos Hank Rhon & family ($4.4B), Antonio Del Valle Ruiz & family ($3.5B), Rufino Vigil Gonzalez ($3.4B), Fernando Chico Pardo ($3.3B)

10. Indonesia

• Total billionaire wealth: $182.3 billion (2.5% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $7.2 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 29 individuals
• Total population: 281,190,067 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Prajogo Pangestu ($43.4B), Low Tuck Kwong ($27.4B), R. Budi Hartono ($26.5B), Michael Hartono ($25.5B), Agoes Projosasmito ($5.9B), Chairul Tanjung ($5.5B), Tahir & family ($4.8B), Dewi Kam ($4.5B), Djoko Susanto ($4.1B), Lim Hariyanto Wijaya Sarwono ($4.0B)

9. Russia

• Total billionaire wealth: $425.3 billion (2.6% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $16.1 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 95 individuals
• Total population: 143,826,130 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Vagit Alekperov ($28.6B), Leonid Mikhelson & family ($27.4B), Vladimir Lisin ($26.6B), Alexey Mordashov & family ($25.5B), Vladimir Potanin ($23.7B), Gennady Timchenko ($23.4B), Mikhail Fridman ($13.1B), Suleiman Kerimov & family ($10.7B), Viktor Rashnikov ($10.6B), Roman Abramovich & family ($9.7B)

8. Lebanon

• Total billionaire wealth: $5.6 billion (2.7% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $206.5 billion
• Total billionaire count: 2 individuals
• Total population: 5,773,493 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Taha Mikati ($2.8B), Najib Mikati ($2.8B)

7. Kazakhstan

• Total billionaire wealth: $30.6 billion (2.8% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $1.1 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 7 individuals
• Total population: 20,330,104 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Vyacheslav Kim ($5.8B), Mikhail Lomtadze ($5.2B), Dinara Kulibaeva ($5.0B), Timur Kulibaev ($5.0B), Vladimir Kim ($3.6B), Timur Turlov ($3.3B), Bulat Utemuratov ($2.7B)

6. India

• Total billionaire wealth: $905.6 billion (4.0% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $22.5 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 191 individuals
• Total population: 1,438,069,596 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Mukesh Ambani ($116.0B), Gautam Adani ($84.0B), Shiv Nadar ($36.9B), Savitri Jindal & family ($33.5B), Dilip Shanghvi ($26.7B), Cyrus Poonawalla ($21.3B), Kumar Birla ($19.7B), Radhakishan Damani ($17.6B), Ravi Jaipuria ($16.2B), Uday Kotak ($13.3B)

5. United Arab Emirates

• Total billionaire wealth: $138.7 billion (4.5% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $3.1 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 18 individuals
• Total population: 10,483,751 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Changpeng Zhao ($33.0B), Vinod Adani ($23.0B), Andrey Melnichenko & family ($21.1B), Pavel Durov ($15.5B), M.A. Yusuff Ali ($7.6B), Hussain Sajwani ($5.1B), Renuka Jagtiani ($4.8B), Abdulla bin Ahmad Al Ghurair & family ($3.9B), Shamsheer Vayalil ($3.5B), Sunny Varkey ($3.3B)

4. Switzerland

• Total billionaire wealth: $496.4 billion (4.9% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $10.1 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 86 individuals
• Total population: 8,888,093 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Klaus-Michael Kuehne ($39.2B), Rafaela Aponte-Diamant ($33.1B), Gianluigi Aponte ($33.1B), Andrea Pignataro ($27.5B), Vicky Safra & family ($20.6B), Michael Platt ($18.0B), Jorge Paulo Lemann & family ($16.4B), Nicolas Puech ($15.6B), Ernesto Bertarelli ($11.2B), Mikhail Prokhorov ($11.0B)

3. Georgia

• Total billionaire wealth: $4.9 billion (5.7% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $85.6 billion
• Total billionaire count: 1 individual
• Total population: 3,715,483 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Bidzina Ivanishvili ($4.9B)

2. Singapore

• Total billionaire wealth: $198.9 billion (7.2% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $2.8 trillion
• Total billionaire count: 53 individuals
• Total population: 5,917,648 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Zhang Yiming ($43.4B), Eduardo Saverin ($28.0B), Goh Cheng Liang ($12.7B), Philip Ng ($7.2B), Robert Ng ($7.1B), Leo Koguan ($6.0B), Zhang Yong ($4.9B), Takao Yasuda ($4.1B), Forrest Li ($3.6B), Martua Sitorus ($3.4B)

1. Eswatini

• Total billionaire wealth: $7.2 billion (18.9% of domestic wealth)
• Total domestic wealth: $38.0 billion
• Total billionaire count: 1 individual
• Total population: 1,230,506 residents
• Wealthiest billionaires: Nathan Kirsh ($7.2B)

The post The Country Where One Billionaire Owns 18.9% Of The Wealth, And Other Nations With Extreme Inequality appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..