A large base of low wealth holders underpins higher tiers occupied by progressively fewer adults. We estimate that 2.8 billion individuals – 53% of all adults in the world – had wealth below USD 10,000 in 2022. The next segment, covering those with wealth in the range of USD 10,000–100,000, has seen the biggest rise in numbers this century, more than trebling in size from 503 million in 2000 to 1.8 billion in mid-2022. This reflects the growing prosperity of emerging economies, especially China, and the expansion of the middle class in the developing world. The average wealth of this group is USD 33,573 or about 40% of the level of average wealth worldwide. Total assets of USD 61.9 trillion provide this segment with considerable economic leverage. The upper-middle segment, with wealth ranging from USD 100,000 to USD 1 million, has also trebled in size this century from 208 million to 642 million people. Members of this group currently own net assets totaling USD 178.9 trillion or 39.4% of global wealth, which is over three times their percentage share of the adult population. The wealth middle class in developed nations typically belongs to this group. Above them, the top tier of high-net-worth (HNW) individuals (i.e. US dollar millionaires) remains relatively small in size, numbering 59.4 million or 1.1% of all adults. The number of global millionaires has been growing rapidly in recent years and exceeded 1% of adults for the first time in 2020, although the number fell by 3.5 million in 2022. In terms of wealth ownership, the HNW group is increasingly dominant. The aggregate wealth of HNWs has grown five-fold from USD 41.4 trillion in 2000 to USD 208.3 trillion in 2022, and their share of global wealth has risen from 35% to 46% over the same period.