More than 710,000 people worldwide hold at least US $30+ million in net wealth. Europe is home to 25.8% of them – but which country has the most ultra-rich in 2026?
Europe’s population of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) – those with at least $30 million (€25.4 million ) in wealth – has grown at a pace.
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According to Knight Frank’s Wealth Report 2026, the continent’s ultra-rich club grew by almost 26% over the five years leading up to 2026, welcoming 37,428 new members since 2021.
Germany – Europe’s ultra-rich HQ
Europe’s traditional powerhouses all saw robust growth in UHNW population growth; Germany, however, leads in Europe by a considerable margin, with an impressive 38,215 UHNWIs headcount.
Germany’s ultra-rich population increased by 32% between 2021 and 2026, adding 9,273 members to the monied fold.
Knight Frank’s report attributes this growth in the country’s growing billionaire class to a robust and mature economy with deep capital pools.
The UK ranks second with 27,876, adding 3005 members to the ultra-wealth category, followed by France with 21,528.
Switzerland, Europe’s traditional wealth hub, added 4,968 to its super-rich club with a 17,692 total and Italy counting 15,433, buoyed by incoming millionaires and billionaires wooed by a flat tax regime aimed at wealthy foreign residents.
The country has also seen demand for luxury real estate rise, with Knight Frank recording strong buyer interest in wealth strongholds Milan, Rome and spillover locations such as Lake Como.
The next five top countries for UHNWIs gains include Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark and Turkey.
London: a step-change in UHNW favour
The UK posted the lowest increase among the major economies at 12% – scrapping a centuries-old non-dom regime in 2025, creating a fallout that is already visible: financiers and entrepreneurs, once loyal to London, increasingly decamping to continental Europe.
Last year, Knight Frank reported that average London prime residential prices fell by 4%, while Europe’s key financial centres such as Zurich, Frankfurt, Paris and Milan all recorded price growth.
Knight Frank’s Rupert des Forges said that there has been a step change in how London is viewed and used by wealthy clients, calling London a “dip-in, dip-out city” used on a needs-only basis. Instead, the elite choose to call Milan, Madrid or Malta as their main place of residence due to tax efficiency and lifestyle factors.
The picture is one of wealth broadening geographically, even as it continues to concentrate in a handful of global powerhouses,” the report said.
Liam Bailey, global head of research at Knight Frank, said the world is witnessing one of the most significant shifts in global wealth distribution in modern history.
Germany’s UHNWIs under the microscope
As of March 2026, Lidl-owner Dieter Schwarz is recognised by Forbes as the richest person in Germany, with a fortune estimated at $67.2 billion
Other top German billionaires often listed by Forbes include the heirs to the Aldi fortune, brother-and-sister team Beate Heister and Karl Albrecht Jr with a $17.8 billion fortune.
Germany’s third richest man is Stefan Quandt, who owns 23.6% of automaker BMW; his sister, Susanne Klatten, the richest woman in Germany, owns 19.1%. Their late mother, Johanna, was the third wife of legendary industrialist Herbert Quandt, who guided BMW to preeminence in the luxury market.
The Market Intelligence Directive: Germany’s Binary Investment Mandate
The analytical divergence between Germany’s two major wealth hubs dictates a clear, segmented investment strategy for UHNW capital. The directive for portfolio allocation is now binary: act on either growth or preservation, but not a blend.
This distinction elevates the analysis from a structural observation to an actionable mandate.
For capital focused on stability and capital preservation, the mandate is to continue allocating to Munich. The city’s entrenched status as Germany’s premier luxury hub, combined with tight supply constraints and economic maturity, ensures that the average price floor of €9,300–€9,800/sqm for prime property remains robust. The strategy here is wealth anchoring.
Conversely, for investors seeking alpha from disruptive growth, the directive is to act now on Berlin’s emergent luxury market. Berlin’s positioning as Europe’s primary tech innovation hub and startup magnet has established a high-ceiling luxury price range, reaching up to €12,000/sqm.
With specific evolving neighborhoods experiencing more than 10% recent price growth, the mandate is to secure opportunistic exposure to the city’s rapidly expanding luxury footprint before the market matures out of its explosive growth phase.
