The number of millionaires and multimillionaires in the U.S. has boomed over the last year, according to new research from Credit Suisse.
The U.S. now has 14.2 million millionaires, a jump of 1.6 million, or nearly 14 percent, over the past year, the Swiss bank reported in its 2014 Global Wealth Report.
The U.S. during the year also produced 9,500 new ultra-high net worth individuals, defined as those with more than $50 million in wealth. That increase alone was greater than the total number for China, which has the second most ultra-high net worth residents at 7,600. The U.S. has 62,800 such individuals, just under the half of the world’s total. Wealth includes all assets, including property and subtracts debt.
Credit Suisse also estimates that U.S. wealth inequality is high, with the top 1 percent controlling 38.4 percent of wealth, and the top 10 percent controlling 74.6 percent. Unlike reports from the Federal Reserve, however, Credit Suisse’s figures do not show wealth inequality rising over the past decade.
The changes in the U.S. take place against a backdrop of exploding global wealth. Total world wealth has doubled since 2000 to $263 trillion, according to Credit Suisse, rising by $20 trillion, or 11.4 percent, just in the past year.
Meanwhile, the median U.S. household has experienced falling wealth in the wake of the financial crisis, according to recently released survey data from the Federal Reserve. Falling net worth and slow growth in wages and salaries for middle-class American families have become a major source of dissatisfaction among voters with the Obama administration and Congress.
