Latin America Lags as World’s Millionaire Count Hits a Record

Latin America · Markets

Soaring stock markets minted millionaires by the million last year, almost everywhere except Latin America, where trade strains kept the region on the sidelines of a global wealth boom.

The number of millionaires worldwide climbed to a record 25.3 million in 2025, an increase of nearly 2 million people, or 7.9%, according to the Capgemini Research Institute’s World Wealth Report 2026, published on Thursday. Their combined wealth rose 8.7% to a record $98.3tn, the strongest annual gain since 2018, powered by buoyant equity markets and easing inflation.

But the windfall was distributed unevenly, and Latin America was among the regions left furthest behind.

Why Latin America’s millionaire growth stalled

Latin America’s population of high-net-worth individuals, defined as those with at least $1m in investable assets excluding their main home, grew by just 0.3%, the weakest among major regions apart from the Middle East, which contracted. Capgemini attributed the region’s stagnation to trade uncertainty that continued to constrain expansion despite a modest recovery in investment.

The figure stands in sharp contrast to Asia, where surging markets in South Korea and Taiwan drove gains, and to Europe, where the wealthy population grew 6.5%. For a region whose largest economies are heavily exposed to commodity cycles and to shifts in U.S. trade policy, the year’s turbulence translated into a near standstill in new wealth creation.

Mexico bucks the regional trend

One country stood out. Mexico outperformed the rest of Latin America, with the wealth of its high-net-worth individuals rising 5.4% and their numbers increasing 1.8%, a divergence that reflects its tighter integration with the United States economy and the relative resilience of its markets.

The contrast within the region is telling: while Mexico drew on its northern trade links, the broader Latin American picture was shaped by the same external pressures, chiefly tariff tensions, that have weighed on trade-dependent economies such as Brazil. Brazil, notably, remains one of the most unequal countries in the world by wealth distribution, a structural feature that shapes how any gains are shared.

A widening gap at the top

Globally, the gains flowed disproportionately to the very richest. The ultra-high-net-worth population, those with $30m or more, grew 9.4% to roughly 250,000 people, outpacing the broader millionaire segment for a second straight year, as the ultra-wealthy benefited from access to higher-returning private investments unavailable to most.

Millionaires also shifted their portfolios toward equities, which rose to about 25% of holdings from 22% a year earlier, trimming cash and alternatives as stock markets climbed. For Latin America, the report is a reminder that global wealth booms do not lift all regions equally, and that the same trade frictions buffeting its exporters are also slowing the accumulation of private fortunes across much of the region.

Capgemini defines these high-net-worth individuals as people holding at least US$1 million in investable assets, excluding their main residence. North America and Asia-Pacific drove most of 2025’s gains, which left Latin America’s near-flat result the weakest of any major region and widened the distance between the region’s wealthy and their global peers heading into 2026.

This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error