500 Super-Rich Austrians Hold 39% of Financial Wealth

The Wealth Divide

When the roughly 60,000 high-net-worth individuals – those with between $1 million and $100 million – are added, the top tier controls 61 percent of Austria's financial assets. In contrast, about 7.3 million Austrians with less than $250,000 in financial wealth share just 30 percent of the total. Another 200,000 in the so-called 'affluent segment' account for the remaining 9 percent.

Michael Kahlich, partner at Boston Consulting Group in Zurich and co-author of the report, explained the driving force: 'Die Konzentration des Vermögens an der Spitze nimmt weiter zu – wer mehr hat, kann breiter streuen und in renditestärkere Anlageklassen wie Aktien oder Private Equity investieren.'

This structural advantage, Kahlich noted, means that those who are already wealthy can shift away from real estate and deposits toward higher-return assets like equities, funds and private equity, accelerating their wealth accumulation further.

Market Forces Shape the Gap

Real assets, primarily real estate, remain the backbone of Austrian wealth at $2.0 trillion – roughly two-thirds of the total. Meanwhile, liabilities rose modestly to $249 billion.

Globally, net wealth reached a new peak of $550 trillion in 2025, up 9.3 percent. Financial assets accounted for $333 trillion after a 10.7 percent surge, while non-financial assets such as property and precious metals grew 7 percent to $281 trillion.

Worldwide, nearly 97,000 people qualify as UHNWIs. The majority live in the United States (37,000) and China (11,100), with Austria home to around 500 of the group.

Global Rankings and Outlook

The concentration is mirrored in individual rankings. According to Bloomberg's billionaire index, nine of the world's ten richest people are American tech entrepreneurs. Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk leads with $728 billion, more than Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin combined. The only non-American in the top ten is French luxury goods magnate Bernard Arnault, ranked ninth with $161 billion. Austria's wealthiest, Red Bull heir Mark Mateschitz, ranks 79th with $39 billion.

In a notable shift, Hong Kong overtook Switzerland in 2025 as the world's leading financial hub for cross-border assets, propelled by strong inflows from mainland China.

Looking ahead, BCG forecasts that Austria's net wealth will climb further to $3.5 trillion by 2030, an increase of roughly 20 percent. Kahlich called 2025 'ein außergewöhnlich starkes Vermögensjahr' and highlighted that both financial markets and real assets gained significantly.