Report: 2.5 million Americans became millionaires last year

According to Credit Suisse’s annual wealth report, over 5 million people worldwide became millionaires in 2021: with 2.5 million of these being in the United States.

“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 confirmed.

Data from Finmasters shows that 21,950,000 people in the United States are millionaires. Their definition of a millionaire is someone who has a net worth of $1 million or more. Their assets should be greater than $1 million once any outstanding debt is removed.

Credit Suisse estimated that the number of millionaires worldwide stood at 62.5 million.

The report said that the increased growth in the number of millionaires in 2021 was accompanied by growth in wealth for those who are considered to be in the top 1%, which “rose for a second year running.”

The report also went into detail about the impact that COVID restrictions had on countries, including 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 stated.

At the other end of the spectrum, the World Bank confirmed that 2020 saw a historic setback in the war with poverty, with the number of the world’s poorest increasing for the first time in two decades.

Global poverty has recently slid down slightly again. However the World Bank has expressed concerns that tens of millions more people could still be living in extreme poverty this year, “due to the lingering effects of the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and rising inflation.”