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France adds a new millionaire every 15 minutes. How does Europe compare?

A South Korean bank clerk carries bundles of U.S. banknotes at a local bank in Seoul, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2006.
– Copyright LEE JIN-MAN/AP
Eastern Europe recorded the fastest growth in dollar millionaires in percentage terms, while the UK, France and Spain ranked just behind the US in the number of new millionaires added.
Nearly one million people joined the ranks of US dollar millionaires worldwide in 2025, according to UBS, equivalent to more than 2,680 new millionaires a day, 112 an hour or almost two every minute.
Europe accounted for much of the growth outside the United States, with the UK adding an average of 118 new dollar millionaires a day and France 95.
At current exchange rates, $1 million is worth about €875,000.
In percentage terms, however, Eastern European countries recorded the fastest growth. The first five places in the global top 30 were all European countries, including EU member states, EU candidate countries, EFTA members and the UK.
Lithuania recorded the highest growth at 8%, meaning it gained 921 new dollar millionaires in 2025.
Turkey ranks second at 6.4%, with 5,650 new millionaires. Latvia saw growth of 5.7%, adding 1,131 millionaires.
Hungary saw a 5.3% rise, gaining 1,349 new millionaires. Ireland ranks fifth at 5.2%, but added considerably more people to the millionaire ranks than the countries above, with 9,491 new millionaires.
The growth rate stood at 4% in Poland and 3.5% in Greece.
The report notes that, to some extent, the increase in millionaires depends on how close to the $1 million threshold the newly minted millionaires were the previous year.
UK, France and Spain follow the US in absolute numbers
The number of dollar millionaires also rose by 3.1% in Spain, 2.4% in Italy, 1.8% in the UK, 1.5% in France, 1% in Switzerland and 0.9% in Germany.
However, absolute numbers provide a clearer picture for these countries, as their millionaire populations are already large, resulting in comparatively lower growth rates.
The US saw the largest increase in the number of millionaires, adding 441,078, nearly half of the global growth.
In Europe, the UK gained more than 43,000 new dollar millionaires last year, while France and Spain each added more than 32,000.
Italy and Germany also ranked among the global top 10, each adding more than 24,000 new millionaires.
Not surprisingly, Europe’s five largest economies all feature in the global top 10. All other European countries saw fewer than 10,000 new millionaires.
Japan (31,428), India (31,033), Australia (25,089) and Russia (21,951) also feature in the global top 10.
New millionaires per day
When these figures are converted into daily rates, the numbers become even more striking. In 2025, an average of 1,208 people joined the millionaire club each day in the US, or 47 per hour.
Among European countries, the UK added an average of 118 new millionaires a day, or 4.5 per hour.
France saw 95 per day and Spain 90. Italy added 67 new millionaires per day and Germany 66.
“More people moving up the wealth ladder, stronger ranks at the top, and steady growth across a remarkably wide field of markets,” the report said.
Not a single nation in the UBS sample of 56 markets ended 2025 with fewer millionaires than it had at the beginning of the year.
Over 40% of the world’s dollar millionaires live in the US, amounting to more than 23.6 million people out of roughly 57.5 million in the UBS sample. Western Europe is home to just under 15 million dollar millionaires, or 25% of the total.
What do these figures tell us?
The report points out that the number of millionaires in a given market is not always a reflection of its size, economic strength or even average wealth per person.
Much depends on factors beyond economic might, such as home ownership, private retirement savings and the availability of tax incentives for saving and investing.
The UBS report defines net worth, or “wealth”, as the value of financial and real assets (principally housing) owned by private individuals, less their debts.
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