More Than 2 Million Americans Became Millionaires Last Year A new report found the year-over-year increase in U.S. millionaires is the largest of any country in this century.
By Madeline Garfinkle Edited by Jessica Thomas
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
People got richer last year, with Americans making up nearly half of the new millionaires across the globe. According to Credit Suisse's annual wealth report, as many as 5.2 million people became millionaires in 2021; 2.5 million of those people were in the U.S.
"This is the largest increase in millionaire numbers recorded for any country in any year this century and reinforces the rapid rise in millionaire numbers seen in the United States since 2016," the report stated.
About 21,951,000 people in the U.S. are millionaires by the standard of having a net worth of $1 million or more, according to data from Finmasters.
Related: U.S. Is Home to 6 of the Top 20 Cities with the Most Billionaires in the World
The report highlighted that the rapid growth in the number of millionaires in 2021 was accompanied by growth in wealth for those in the top 1%, which "rose for a second year running."
Behind the U.S., China and Canada increased their number of millionaires by more than a million each. As far as countries that saw negative growth, Japan lost about 395,000 millionaires, and Italy lost 135,000.
The report also touched on the effects of Covid-19, as it's believed to have led to an increase in wealth inequality.
"The lowest groups of wealth holders are believed to have been damaged by the economic impact of the pandemic on employment and incomes, forcing them to draw down their savings and/or incur higher debt," the report states.
