Canada is 13th wealthiest nation in the world, according to annual global wealth rankings

Canada is the thirteenth richest nation in the world, according to a new report from UBS. Photo by Sam Wong /Getty Images

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According to the 2026 edition of the bank’s annual Global Wealth Report, global wealth grew rapidly in 2025, with personal wealth rising by over 10 per cent, the “fastest pace in years.”

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The report points to North America as the richest region in the world, driven by the United States, which UBS says is the second richest country globally, with an average wealth per adult of US$696,277 ($988,000) in 2025. The U.S. sits behind Switzerland, which holds the top spot with an average wealth per adult of US$910,382 ($1.2 million).

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Canada comes in at 13th place with an average wealth per adult of $567,000.

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The percentage of wealth consisting of financial assets is highest in Israel, Taiwan and the U.S., with values of 82.1, 80.8 and 70 per cent respectively. In Canada that number sits at 66.2 per cent.

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Looking at debt as a share of gross wealth, Canada sits at fifth with 18.2 per cent. That compares with Brazil, which tops the list at 23.4 per cent, and Mexico at the bottom, with 5.2 per cent.

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USB reports that the number of U.S. dollar millionaires in the world has been rising for years. In 2025, the Swiss bank estimates that the world’s millionaire population expanded by 1.5 per cent. “This may not sound like much, but it corresponds to nearly one million new millionaires minted in 2025, or over 2,680 per day.”

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The highest growth rates in U.S. dollar millionaires are in Eastern Europe, according to the report, led by Lithuania with an 8 per cent increase year-on-year, followed by Türkiye, Latvia and Hungary, all with a growth rate above 5 per cent.

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“Not a single nation in our sample of 56 markets has ended the year 2025 with fewer millionaires than it had at the beginning.”

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North America accounts for the greatest share of U.S. dollar millionaires in the world, due to the United States, which created over 440,000 new millionaires in 2025, an increase of 1.9 per cent over 2024, or over 1,200 new millionaires per day. The United Kingdom accumulated more than 43,000 new U.S. dollar millionaires last year, while France, Spain, Japan and India added over 30,000 people.

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Canada didn’t make the growth list of U.S. dollar millionaires.

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USB counted 3,302 U.S. dollar billionaires this year, an increase of 383 individuals or almost 13.1 per cent in 2025. Over a thousand of them reside in the United States, 562 in mainland China and 211 in India. Germany and Russia follow with 193 and 122 respectively.

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Looking at the share of wealth among national populations, slightly more than 15 per cent of the world’s adult population owns net assets worth between US$100,000 and US$1 million.

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The share of people owning between US$10,000 and US$100,000 is almost equal to that of those owning less than US$10,000, namely just over 41 per cent. Net assets above US$1 million are owned by 1.5 per cent of the world’s population.