‘Scandalous’: Number of high net worth Australians outpaces economic growth

The wealth of Australia’s millionaires and billionaires significantly outpaced economic growth in 2024, new analysis shows.

Research from French multinational business consultancy firm, Capgemini, shows 334,800 Australians are now deemed “high net worth individuals”, up 0.5 per cent last year.

Just under 10 per cent of those people have investable assets between $US5m-$US30m. There are now 2450 Australians with investable assets over $US30m.

The total wealth of high net worth Australians grew 3.3 per cent in 2024, the report shows, while the Australian economy grew just 1.3 per cent for the year.

The Capgemini report, released this week, also throws up a broad view of how the wealthy will pass on their riches, and how their children are likely to invest the funds.

In the next two decades, globally some $128 trillion will change hands by inheritance, Capgemini estimates.

The inheriting generation are more open to risk, Capgemini says, and advises wealth and asset managers to prepare for the change in appetite.

Separate analysis released this week by Oxfam shows the number of Australian billionaires has doubled in the space of a decade to 161.

“This level of inequality is not just morally wrong – it’s economically and socially dangerous,” Oxfam Australia acting chief executive Chrisanta Muli said.

“While millions of Australians are struggling to make ends meet, the country’s richest continue to amass eye-watering fortunes, often without lifting a finger.”

In the past decade, the wealth of Australia’s richest 200 people has risen 160 per cent to $667bn, Oxfam says.

“It is scandalous and unjust that property continues to be one of the biggest drivers of wealth across the decade while over 99 per cent of rentals are unaffordable for people earning a full-time minimum wage,” Dr Muli said.