Articles UHNW Population by City: 2025 Rankings and Trends The world’s leading UHNW cities grew their ultra wealthy populations faster than the global average in 2025, with all 12 top-ranked cities recording double-digit gains. From New York’s dominance as the premier global wealth hub to Seoul’s dramatic rise up the rankings, the city-level story reflects both the enduring appeal of established financial centers and the emergence of new ultra wealth hotspots. 22 June 2026 Maya Imberg, Maeen Shaban Home Resources Articles UHNW Population by City: 2025 Rankings and Trends Articles Financial Services Luxury nonprofits wealth management World Ultra Wealth Report World Ultra Wealth Report 2026: Leading UHNW cities The world’s ultra wealthy are a globally mobile population, but their preference for a relatively small number of cities remains a defining feature of how wealth concentrates. More than a fifth of all UHNW individuals live in just 12 cities, drawn by the access those urban centers provide to private capital markets, aligned social networks, and the high-end services built around them. In 2025, that concentration intensified, with every top-ranked city recording double-digit growth. The World Ultra Wealth Report 2026 is Altrata’s 14th annual study of this population. This section examines the leading UHNW cities, the structural forces shaping their wealthy populations, and the standout performers and emerging trends that defined the city-level landscape in 2025. Download the World Ultra Wealth Report 2026 The top 12 cities are home to more than a fifth of the world’s UHNW population The distribution of ultra wealth at city level has evolved over the past decade, shaped by socioeconomic trends, the globalization of business and technology, and the increasing mobility of capital. The allure of the largest global cities remains strong, however, offering privileged access to aligned social networks, investment opportunities, and high-end cultural, educational, entertainment and lifestyle services. Below, we highlight some of the structural drivers and recent changes in UHNW city population size. UHNW numbers in the 12 leading cities grew at a faster rate than the size of the global ultra wealthy population. A total of 121,960 ultra wealthy individuals resided in the 12 leading UHNW cities in 2025, an increase of more than 17,000 from a year earlier. All of the top-ranked cities recorded double-digit gains. Grouped together, this growth in population slightly outpaced that of the overall UHNW class, underlining the significant appeal of the world’s premier urban wealth hubs. New York is the premier UHNW center – the largest of eight US cities in the top 12. The financial and commercial capital of the world’s largest wealth market, New York is the dominant center of concentrated net worth, being home to almost 24,000 UHNW individuals. Despite heightened tax- and residency-driven competition from more streamlined jurisdictions, as well as a more uncertain policy climate in the US, New York remained a powerful magnet for the wealthy in 2025. Wealth trends tied to the AI investment boom were a major driver of activity across the city’s extensive private capital markets, family offices and ultra-prime real estate. Second-ranked Hong Kong registered the second strongest growth in UHNW individuals of all the top 12 cities. Hong Kong has experienced a recent resurgence in cross-border wealth inflows and its UHNW population, which expanded by a robust 26% in 2025, to 18,290 individuals. Following a period of subdued investor sentiment in the wake of political reforms and national security legislation, ultra wealth trends were buoyed by an equity-market revival (driven by deepening integration with mainland Chinese capital flows), real estate and investment reforms, and increased regional demand for sophisticated wealth-management services. Hong Kong is one of Asia’s leading hubs for private banking, family offices and offshore wealth management. No Chinese or German cities among the leading UHNW centers. The world’s second- and third-largest ultra wealth markets, China and Germany, have no cities in the top 12 (the highest-ranked city of either being in 29th and 44th position). This is explained by their stock of private net worth being dispersed more uniformly across domestic urban centers than in most other leading UHNW countries. This contrasts strongly with wealth hubs such as London and Tokyo, which are home to an especially high share of their respective countries’ UHNW populations. Seoul was a standout performer, surging up the rankings to make it into the top 12. South Korea’s capital city of Seoul recorded a dynamic expansion of ultra wealth in 2025, with the number of UHNW individuals rising by more than a third. Gains were driven primarily by a huge equity rally, reflecting the dominant role of South Korean corporates (such as Samsung and SK Hynix) in the AI hardware supply chain as global demand for semiconductor memory chips soared. Monetary easing, accelerated governance reforms and a new trade agreement with the US also bolstered wealth portfolios in the capital, which is the concentrated hub for much of South Korea’s private and business wealth, luxury real estate and an expanding wealth management industry. In focus: renewed market instability in the first half of 2026 Geopolitical tensions, technological disruption, and portfolio diversification were the dominant themes shaping ultra wealth assets over the first half of 2026. A cautiously optimistic investor landscape at the beginning of the year was knocked off course by the ongoing US-Israel war with Iran, with another major supply shock sending risk sentiment and most global equities into retreat (Asian and European markets being the most exposed). In general, corporate earnings and economic activity have been resilient, but financial markets overall remained in a state of flux, as sentiment vacillated between hopes of de-escalation and fears of a protracted conflict. Volatility was also evident in technology stocks in an evolving AI narrative. This continued to drive huge new investments and bullish revenue forecasts, but also a degree of caution over ‘bubble’ concerns, real-economy effects, and the implications across the digital space. Strong investor enthusiasm for AI infrastructure businesses (such as providers of data centers, cloud computing and semiconductors) contrasted with a pullback in software-related assets. Structurally, concentration risk tied to US market dominance in AI-related stocks, alongside wider policy uncertainty and a more complex global trading environment, reinforced an UHNW focus on portfolio diversification and private capital. These developments continued to drive strong demand for private wealth management services and increasingly sophisticated family office structures. The city-level rankings in 2025 reflect both the resilience of established wealth hubs and the speed at which new centers can emerge. Seoul’s rise, Hong Kong’s resurgence, and New York’s continued dominance each tell a different story about the forces shaping ultra wealth at the local level. For organizations that need to know where to focus, Altrata’s wealth intelligence platform provides the city-level precision to make that call with confidence. Download the full World Ultra Wealth Report 2026 to explore the complete findings. 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