Australia ranks as the world’s third-highest country for median wealth, according to UBS, highlighting strong household prosperity despite ongoing economic challenges.
Australia’s property market is making more people millionaires. A new UBS Global Wealth Report shows about 25,000 Australians joined the millionaire club in 2025. That pushed the country’s total to 1.6 million people with net assets above $US1 million.
Even so, many are not living luxury lifestyles. Most of their wealth is tied to property instead of cash. Meanwhile, Australia now ranks third globally for median wealth, behind Luxembourg and Belgium.
The country’s booming housing market remains its biggest wealth creator. Australian households now own residential land and homes worth $12.3 trillion. That value is higher than the combined GDP of Japan, India and the United Kingdom.
In addition, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said household wealth rose 1.2 percent to $19.2 trillion by the end of the March quarter. The average home price also climbed above $1.1 million during the same period. As a result, many homeowners became paper millionaires through rising property values.
Around the world, personal wealth also recorded strong growth. According to UBS, global personal wealth increased by 10.8 percent in 2025, compared with 4.6 percent in 2024. The report added that there are now “more millionaires than ever, everywhere.”
North America and Greater China account for 56 percent of the world’s millionaires. The United States created more than 440,000 new millionaires in one year. Meanwhile, mainland China, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom and France each have more than two million millionaires.
Despite the growth, median wealth fell in many countries. However, Australia remained one of the world’s most equal nations for wealth distribution. Its wealth Gini coefficient improved to 0.53, showing wealth is shared more evenly than in many other countries.
By comparison, the United Arab Emirates and Russia recorded the highest inequality at 0.82. South Africa and Brazil followed with 0.81. Slovakia ranked as the world’s most equal country, while Belgium and Qatar were slightly more equal than Australia.
