Despite COVID-19 Impact, Global Billionaires' Wealth Increases..."Driven by Surge in Healthcare and Tech Stocks"

First Time Surpassing $10 Trillion
Healthcare Wealth Increases by 50%
Growth Slows in Entertainment, Real Estate, and Finance Sectors

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[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] Despite the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the wealth of the world's billionaires has actually increased. The wealth of global billionaires has surpassed $10 trillion (approximately 1,200 trillion KRW) for the first time in history.

According to the Billionaire Report published by UBS Bank and the accounting and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on the 7th (local time), as of the end of July, the wealth of the world's billionaires reached $10.2 trillion.

In the periodic Billionaire Reports compiled by UBS and PwC, the previous record was $8.9 trillion at the end of 2017.

This year, the increase in billionaires' wealth is due to the surge in healthcare and technology stocks in the stock market following the COVID-19 pandemic. Billionaires in the healthcare sector saw their wealth increase by 50% this year, while those in the technology sector experienced a 43% growth in wealth.

On the other hand, billionaires in fields such as entertainment, real estate, and finance showed an increase rate of around 10%, according to Bloomberg News.

In this regard, the report diagnosed that the sharp rise in the wealth of billionaires in the technology and healthcare sectors this year may not be a temporary phenomenon caused by COVID-19 but could signal the beginning of a sustained trend.

Regionally, U.S. billionaires held the largest wealth at $3.6 trillion. The wealth of billionaires in the Asia-Pacific region also reached $3.3 trillion. Their wealth increased by 36% over the four months from April to July this year. Notably, the Asia-Pacific region had the highest number of billionaires at 831. During these four months, 221 new billionaires emerged, 91% of whom were women.

This Billionaire Report analyzed the wealth of about 2,000 individuals who hold 98% of the world's billionaire wealth.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.