Germany has 3,900 super-rich. This category includes people whose wealth exceeds $100 million. In just one year, their number in the country has increased by 500, and the wealth of this group has grown by 16%. This growth can be explained mainly by the strong increase in prices on international financial markets.
The super-rich own almost a third of financial assets
The German public media ARD cites the new "Global Wealth Report 2025" by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). According to the document, these 3,900 ultra-rich own a total of almost three trillion dollars - 27% of all financial assets in Germany.
The total gross wealth of German households amounts to 22.9 trillion US dollars - of which 11.1 trillion are financial assets, i.e. bank deposits, securities, pensions and cash. 11.8 trillion US dollars are invested in real estate and other real assets.
Germany - third in the world in terms of the number of super-rich
With its 3,900 ultra-rich people, Germany ranks third in the world - after the USA with 33,000, and China - with 9,200 super-rich.
Germany also comes out ahead in terms of the number of dollar millionaires: 678,000 people in Germany now own assets worth at least one million dollars - an increase of 65,000 compared to the previous year. However, the trend here is uneven: "The lower you are in the wealth pyramid, the lower the growth", notes BCG.
The super-rich and dollar millionaires have benefited significantly more from the market recovery than ordinary households, ARD points out in this regard.
Significant growth in financial assets
According to the "Global Wealth Report", all net financial assets in the world amounted to 512 trillion US dollars last year - an increase of 4.4%. However, this represents a slowdown in growth, as global wealth grew by an average of 5.3% over the previous four years.
Currency fluctuations and inflation have lowered yields, and geopolitical tensions have created uncertainty, the Boston consultants explain this development. Mainly due to the dynamics of global stock markets, global financial assets grew by 8.1%, they also point out.
The wealth of German billionaires is inherited
The authors of the study expect global financial assets to grow by an average of about six percent per year until 2029. The Asia-Pacific region will lead the way in this regard, with an estimated annual growth rate of around nine percent, followed by North America (4 percent) and Western Europe (5 percent).
According to the British non-governmental organization Oxfam, German billionaires owe their wealth to others - 71% of their assets were inherited, not earned by themselves. For comparison, the global average for this indicator is 36 percent, ARD emphasizes.