The number of millionaires in Germany and around the world has continued to rise despite Corona.

There are now 1.535 million millionaires in Germany, after 1.466 in the previous year.

In this country, the strong stock market and real estate prices in particular, but also the high savings rate, allowed large fortunes to continue to grow.

This emerges from the annual "World Wealth Report", which the management consultancy Capgemini presented on Monday.

Christian Siedenbiedel

Editor in business.

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    All over the world, the number of millionaires rose by 6.3 percent to 20.8 million.

    For the first time, according to the report, the limit of 20 million millionaires in the world was exceeded.

    At the same time, the assets of this group grew by 7.6 percent to almost 80 trillion dollars.

    The number of the super-rich around the world, who own more than 30 million dollars, rose according to the study by 9.6 percent to 200,900.

    The numbers of such millionaire reports always differ slightly.

    Unlike Bank Credit Suisse, Capgemini does not consider households but individuals.

    In addition, dollar millionaires are considered without owner-occupied homes, valuable collections and everyday objects.

    Successful America

    Regarding the regions of the world where most millionaires live, North America in particular saw growth.

    For the first time in years, this continent overtook the Asia-Pacific region and in 2020 was the leader in both millionaires and total wealth.

    Klaus-Georg Meyer from Capgemini blamed the Americans' strong involvement in stocks above all for this.

    The consequences of the economic stimulus programs also played a role.

    In contrast, the number of millionaires declined in the UK.

    It fell from 591,000 to 573,000. Meyer blamed the sharp drop in gross domestic product for this.

    There seems to be a certain concentration when it comes to the countries where the millionaires live: 63 percent of these millionaires from around the world are now in four countries: the United States, Japan, Germany and China, according to the report.

    This share has increased further in the past few years.

    In 2012 it was 58.4 percent, in 2019 it was around 61.6 percent.

    The number of millionaires in the Middle East has also increased.

    In Iran alone, it rose from 205,000 to 250,000 within a year. Meyer blamed a state-initiated price increase on the Tehran stock exchange for this, among other things.

    Real estate and stocks

    The management consultancy took a closer look at how millionaires in Germany invest their money.

    Compared to the previous year, in 2021 they reduced their exposure to equities (minus 2.2 percentage points), cash and cash equivalents (minus 7.8 percentage points. In contrast, they invested more in fixed-income securities (plus 0.7 percentage points), real estate (plus 2.4 percentage points) and alternative investments (plus 2.5 percentage points). Compared to the world average, German millionaires invest below average in stocks, but above average in real estate.

    From surveys, however, the management consultancy also reports that millionaires are more interested in crypto currencies, the market jackets known as “Spacs” and sustainable investments.

    For the success of the German millionaires despite the crisis last year, the management consultancy made price gains of 12.1 percent on the domestic stock markets, the rise in real estate prices by 11.4 percent and the increase in the savings rate in Germany to 27.2 at times Percent responsible.