World Ultra Wealth Report 2026

Key definitions

Ultra high net worth (UHNW) individuals – Those with a net worth of $30m+ (also referred to as the ‘ultra wealthy’).

Very high net worth (VHNW) individuals – Those with a net worth of $5m to $30m.

To size the wealthy population and its combined wealth, we use our proprietary Wealth and Investable Assets Model. This model produces statistically significant estimates for total private wealth and estimates the size of the population by level of wealth and investable assets for the world and each of the top 70 economies, which account for 98% of world GDP.

We use a two-step process. First, to estimate total private wealth, we use econometric techniques that incorporate a large number of national variables, such as stock market values, GDP, tax rates, income levels and savings from sources such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and national statistics authorities. Second, we estimate wealth distribution across each country’s population. Owing to a lack of wealth distribution data, most wealth models estimate wealth distribution patterns using income distribution data.

Our proprietary database of millions of records on the world’s wealthiest individuals enables us to construct wealth distribution patterns using real, rather than assumed, wealth distributions, making the model more reliable. We then use the resulting Lorenz curves to distribute the net wealth of a country across its population. The database is also used to construct investable asset distribution patterns across each country’s population. The model uses residency as the determinant of an individual’s location.

Our model also estimates population, wealth and investable assets for the world’s 200 major cities as ranked by nominal GDP in US$. These cities are defined on the basis of urban agglomerations (UAs) and metropolitan (metro) areas, which include the built-up areas outside the administrative core. We find that metro and urban areas are closer to self-contained entities compared with city administrative cores (city proper) because more residents are likely to work and spend within the metro/UA boundaries. We focus on metro areas to ensure comparability because globally comparable city-level data is not available.

To profile the UHNW in greater depth, this report leverages Altrata’s unique and proprietary database, the world’s most extensive collection of curated research and intelligence on the wealthy. Our database provides insights into their financial profile, career history, professional and personal relationships, affiliations, family background, education, philanthropic endeavors, passions, hobbies, interests and much more. Our proprietary valuation model (as defined by net worth) assesses all asset holdings, including privately and publicly held businesses and investable assets. The database uses the primary business address as the determinant of a wealthy individual’s location. References to $ or dollars refer to US dollars.

Analysis of the data and additional insights were provided by Altrata’s Analytics team. Leveraging Altrata’s databases and its own data models, Altrata Analytics provides customizable data assets tailored to an organization’s needs.