Report: Billionaires Are Losing Their Wealth

The combined wealth of the world’s billionaires dropped for the first time since 2015, according to a Friday report by UBS Group AG UBS and PricewaterhouseCoopers. 

What Happened

Internationally, billionaires lost 4.3%, or $388 billion, in 2018, and their combined wealth fell to $8.539 trillion, according to the report.

The loss is partially attributed to the strengthening of the U.S. dollar against other currencies.

The U.S.-China trade war and weak economic growth in China and India also played a significant role in the decrease in wealth in 2018, UBS and PwC said. 

China’s economy, for instance, grew by only 6.6% last year, the lowest number in 28 years.

Things Look Good For The Americas

The Asia Pacific region was particularly affected. Billionaires there lost 8% of their wealth compared to 2017.

The number of billionaires in the region dropped from 814 to 754.

In China, billionaires lost 12.3% of their wealth, but the report said that nearly half of this drop is due to the yuan's fall against the dollar. 

The wealth of billionaires in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa region fell by 6.8%. 

The Americas were the only region where billionaires retained their wealth due to the increased wealth of U.S. tech entrepreneurs, the report said.