GNV News — December 12, 2025

The Swiss bank UBS, one of the world’s largest asset managers, revealed in its December 2025 report that the total wealth of billionaires (※1) hit a record high of $15.8 trillion. At the survey’s cut-off date, the number of billionaires reached 2,919, an 8.8% increase from 2,682 in 2024.

Also in 2025, 91 people became billionaires through inheritance, with inherited wealth totaling a record $297.8 billion. It is forecast that at least $5.9 trillion will be passed on to the descendants of billionaires over the next 15 years. The increase in inherited wealth is occurring mainly in the United States, with India, France, Germany, and Switzerland following.

In response to this situation, European governments are said to be facing calls to introduce wealth taxes. For example, in Switzerland, a national referendum on November 30, 2025 asked voters to strengthen taxation of the wealthy. The proposal would have imposed a 50% tax on inheritances exceeding $62 million, but it was rejected by about 78% of voters. In France, a proposal in October 2025 to levy a 2% tax on assets over €100 million was also rejected. Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, the non-domiciled tax status was abolished in April 2025. As a result, wealthy individuals can no longer avoid paying UK tax on income earned outside the country.

While the wealth of billionaires has increased sharply, inequality has also widened; it has been shown that the wealth held by the top 1% of the world’s population exceeds the total wealth of the bottom 95%. Moreover, although countries in the Southern Hemisphere account for 79% of the world’s population, they own only 31% of global wealth. Furthermore, as of 2024, about 42% of the world’s population live on $7.4 a day or less, the ethical poverty line (※2).

※1 Refers to “billionaires,” individuals with net assets of at least US $1 billion.

※2 GNV adopts the ethical poverty line ($7.4 per day) rather than the World Bank’s extreme poverty line ($2.15 per day). For details, see GNV’s article “How should we interpret the state of global poverty?”

Learn more about the super-rich→ “The super-rich: questioning their existence”

Learn more about tax avoidance by billionaires → “The Caribbean at the mercy of billionaires”

Learn more about reporting on inequality → “Why do the media fail to report the world’s rapidly increasing inequality?”

A luxury yacht moored in a port at night (Photo: frantisekhojdysz / Shutterstock.com)