Over 3.5 million lose 'dollar millionaire' status in 2022

More than 3.5 million people lost their "dollar millionaire" status last year during the first fall in global wealth since the 2008 financial crisis.

The number of millionaires in the US dropped by 1.8 million to 22.7 million, but there are still far more millionaires in the US than any other country. According to the UBS annual wealth report published on Tuesday, China had the second highest number with 6.2 million.

The report suggest that for the world as a whole, median wealth has increased five-fold this century at roughly double the pace of wealth per adult, largely due to the rapid wealth growth in China.

The bank said in an interview with the Guardian: "This outcome represents a break in the almost uninterrupted expansion of household wealth this century."

The number of adults with assets of more than $1 million (7.26 million yuan) fell from 62.9 million at the end of 2021 to 59.4 million at the end of 2022.

The Swiss bank said global wealth was depressed by high inflation and the collapse of many currencies against the dollar.

Despite the decline, the report found that there were four times as many dollar millionaires as there were at the turn of the century.

At the very top, the number of people with more than $50 million each fell by 22,500 to 243,000.

Household finances have been squeezed by the sharp rise in the cost of everything from food to energy.

Meanwhile, the "fourth industrial revolution" – the rapid development of technology and automation – is upending and reshaping economies.

"The global economy is experiencing a period of astonishing economic alteration. The sweeping changes of the fourth industrial revolution represent the most dramatic structural upheaval in 250 years. Revolutions, it turns out, are revolutionary – social as well as economic relationships will be challenged by this process," said Paul Donovan, the chief economist at UBS.