Number of ultra wealthy individuals exploded during the pandemic

Sept. 20 (UPI) -- A new report by investment bank Credit Suisse said that the number of "ultra high net worth" individuals increased by 46,000 last year to a record 218,200 people.

The number of people with assets of more than $50 million boomed in 2021 as the world's richest people benefited from an explosion of wealth during the pandemic recovery.

However, this massive increase in wealth for the richest 0.00004% of the population, comes at the expense of billions of low and middle-income people.

"The strong rise in financial assets resulted in an increase in inequality in 2021," the report by Credit Suisse, which helps manage the fortunes of many of the world's richest people, said. "The rise in inequality is probably due to the surge in the value of financial assets during the COVID-19 pandemic."

Anthony Shorrocks, an economics professor and an author of the report, told the Guardian that there had been "almost an explosion of wealth last year ... Probably higher than any other year we have ever recorded."

The number of millionaires increased by 5.2 million during 2021 to a total of 62.5 million. Shorrocks said that the increase was so large that millionaires were becoming "an increasingly irrelevant measure of wealth."

The United States is home to 24.5 millionaires, which is 39% of the world's total. China is in second place with 10%, ahead of Japan with 5.4%, Britain (4.6%) and France (4.5%).

However, when average wealth per adult is measured, the inequalities of the United States are much more stark. The U.S. drops to 18th place in median wealth at $93,000. Australia is top of the median wealth table with $274,000.