UBS Report: The total wealth of the world's billionaires reached US$15.8 trillion, and the Asia-Pacific region ranked first in the world

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on December 4, the new “UBS Billionaires Report” released by UBS showed that the number of billionaires increased by 8.8% to 2,919 in 2025, and the total wealth reached a new high of 15.8 trillion US dollars (about HK$123.24 trillion), an increase of 13%. The Asia-Pacific region rebounded significantly in 2025, with the number of billionaires rising from 981 to 1,036, the highest increase in the world. Of Asia Pacific's billionaires, up to 79% are self-employed, leading all regions. The total wealth of the region's billionaires grew 11.1% to $4.2 trillion.

Overall, the mainland still holds a leading position in the Asia-Pacific region, adding wealth of US$321.4 billion to US$1.8 trillion. China added 70 new billionaires. Currently, there are 470 new billionaires, second only to the US with 924.

Lu Caiyun, chairman of UBS Wealth Management Asia Pacific and co-head of UBS Wealth Management Asia Pacific, said that the Asia Pacific billionaires are reshaping the global wealth pattern, and the total wealth of the region's billionaires has grown to 4.2 trillion US dollars, covering 1,036 billionaires. In just one year, the number of respondents who are confident that Greater China is their preferred investment region has tripled. Nearly half expect Greater China to rank among the most attractive regions within the next five years, highlighting the region's key role in shaping future wealth.

From an industry perspective, the wealth of tech billionaires grew by 23.8% to $3 trillion, ranking first in the global industry, along with consumer and retail. As “DeepSeek” released a large-scale language model in early 2025 and the market rekindled interest in the development of “Made in China” technology, tech billionaires in Greater China also made a strong comeback, and their wealth growth showed an upward trend. Meanwhile, the development momentum of the European luxury goods industry was replaced by Chinese brands, causing consumer and retail growth to slow to 5.3%. Despite this, the industry still gathers the most wealth of the world's billionaires, totaling $3.1 trillion.

In terms of wealth transfer, heirs in Asia Pacific, South Asia and East Asia are expected to inherit US$764.6 billion over the next 15 years, of which heirs in Greater China are expected to inherit US$407 billion. Due to the age of India's billionaires, the country is expected to welcome the largest wealth transfer in Asia, and the total inherited wealth is expected to reach 382.4 billion US dollars.

As for investment priorities, the report indicates that although North America is still the preferred investment region (63%), its dominant position has declined from 80% in 2024. Driven by renewed market confidence in Greater China and the Asia-Pacific region as a whole, 34% of the billionaires surveyed believe that Greater China provides the greatest investment opportunity, a significant increase from 11% in 2024, while 33% of respondents prefer to choose the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Greater China), up from 25% in 2024.

Looking ahead, as major transfers of wealth continue to accelerate, UBS expects that the number of billionaires and multi-millionaires will continue to grow over the next few decades. It is estimated that by 2040, global billionaires will transfer about $6.9 trillion of wealth, of which at least $5.9 trillion will be passed on directly or indirectly (through spouses) to their children.