The world has never had more billionaires. Forbes has counted a record 3,428 10-figure fortunes across the globe this year, spread across 80 countries and territories. This number keeps climbing as technology, markets and geopolitical shifts continue to concentrate wealth at the top.
But despite that geographic spread, the picture is strikingly lopsided. More than half of all billionaires — 51% — are concentrated in just three countries: the United States China and India.
The United States of America: 989 billionaires, $8.4 trillion in combined wealth
No country comes close to America when it comes to producing and retaining billionaires. The US is home to a record 989 billionaires this year, worth a combined $8.4 trillion. That includes 15 of the 20 richest people in the world, and the richest person of all: Elon Musk, who emigrated to the US from South Africa via Canada more than three decades ago.The country added 106 new billionaires in 2026. At the time of writing, Forbes ‘Real-Time Billionaires List’ suggests top 8 of the top 10 spots are taken by tech executives: Elon Musk, Larry Page (Google cofounder), Jeff Bezos (Amazon founder), Sergey Brin (Google cofounder), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook founder), Larry Ellison (Oracle founder), Jensen Huang (Nvidia founder) and Michael Dell (Dell founder).
China: 539 billionaires, thanks to AI and consumer goods
China follows in second place with 539 billionaires worth a collective $2.2 trillion, which is the highest number of Chinese citizens Forbes has ever recorded on the list, surpassing the previous record of 495 set in 2024.
As a group, Chinese billionaires are $500 billion richer than they were a year ago, buoyed by the country’s growing presence in artificial intelligence (AI) and a strong year for the consumer goods sector. China’s richest person is Zhang Yiming, who is the co-founder of ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok.
India: 229 billionaires, crossing $1 trillion in combined wealth
India, the world’s most populous country, holds third place with 229 billionaires worth an aggregate $1 trillion, which is up from $941 billion the previous year, driven by a robust performance from the country’s stock market.The rest of the Top 5: Germany and Russia round out the top five, with 212 and 147 billionaires respectively. The broader top ten is largely unchanged from last year, with nine of the same countries or territories retaining their positions. The notable exception is the UK, which slipped from 10th to 12th place, ceding the final top-ten spot to Taiwan.
| Rank | Country/Territory | Total Billionaires (2026) | Total Billionaires (2025) | Total Net Worth (2026) | Total Net Worth (2025) | Richest Person | Net Worth of Richest Person |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 989 | 902 | $8.4 trillion | $6.8 trillion | Elon Musk | $839 billion |
| 2 | China | 539 | 450 | $2.2 trillion | $1.7 trillion | Zhang Yiming | $69.3 billion |
| 3 | India | 229 | 205 | $1 trillion | $941 billion | Mukesh Ambani | $99.7 billion |
| 4 | Germany | 212 | 171 | $1 trillion | $793 billion | Dieter Schwarz | $67.2 billion |
| 5 | Russia | 147 | 140 | $649 billion | $580 billion | Alexey Mordashov & family | $37 billion |
| 6 | Italy | 89 | 74 | $483 billion | $339 billion | Giancarlo Devasini | $89.3 billion |
| 7 | Canada | 82 | 76 | $457 billion | $349 billion | Changpeng Zhao | $110 billion |
| 8 | Hong Kong* | 71 | 66 | $420 billion | $335 billion | Robin Zeng | $53.2 billion |
| 9 | Brazil | 70 | 56 | $265 billion | $212 billion | Eduardo Saverin | $35.9 billion |
| 10 | Taiwan | 66 | 54 | $245 billion | $105 billion | Terry Gou | $15.3 billion |
*Hong Kong is an autonomous territory of China.
