How much money do you have to have to be among the richest 1%, according to each country

Depending on where you live, it doesn’t take a lot of money to be richer than 99% of the population. In Kenya, only 20,000 euros…

being a millionaire is relative. It depends on the country where you live. a look at money needed to be among the richest 1% of each country leaves us surprising data, and very curious.

For example, It is easier to be rich in Japan than in Spain. And in a large number of countries it is not even necessary to reach one million euros to be among the richest 1% in the country.

These are data collected in the Wealth Sizing Model, created by the real estate consultant Knight Frank, which come to us through Business Insider.

How to be richer than 99% of the population, in every country

The amount of money you need to be among the richest in a country depends on two things: the population, and the wealth of the country itself.

It is easier to enter that rich 1% in a country with a large population, because the more population there is usually more poverty. On the contrary, very small countries tend to be the richest. And it also depends on the country’s standard of living. People earn much more money in Sweden or Canada than in Kenya or Bangladesh, for example.

Thus, the country where it is most difficult to break into the 1% of the richest, is Monaco, where the two previous points are taken to the extreme. Monaco is a country little bigger than a town, It has only 2 square kilometers of surface, and only 39,000 inhabitants. But at the same time it is a tax havenso it’s full of billionaires.

Knight Frank has estimated that before 2026, 255 people with a net worth of more than 28 million euros could live in Monaco and close to 40,000 people with assets close to a million euros. That’s their entire population…

If you want to be richer than 99% of Monegasquesyou have to have in the bank €11.4 million. In second place is another tax evaders paradise, Swisswhere “only” is needed €6.1 million to enter the top 1%.

Surprised to find below Australia and New Zealandwhere it is required little more than 5 million euros. But they comply with the rules that they are countries with a small population, and a good standard of living.

Fifth on the list is USAwhich requires 5.1 million euros to enter the 1% of the richest.

In Europe the figure exceeds 3 million in the richest countries, and low in the south. In Spain, 2.5 million euros are needed to be richer than 99% of the population. More or less like in Italy. More than in Japan or China. The rest of the data is very interesting:

It surprises that in Spain more money is needed than in the United Arab Emirates, an oil-rich country. This indicates that there are few very rich people there, and a good part of the population that is much poorer. Same as Saudi Arabia.

The figures begin to fall in South America and Asia. To enter the group of the richest 1% in Brazil, you only need 430,000 euros. In India, 180,000 euros. In the Philippines, only 60,000 euros.

Even more “simple” is in Africa. 20,000 euros are enough to be richer than 99% of the population in Kenya. A figure that says it all about the poverty of Kenyans.

The figure to enter the group of the richest 1% changes in each country. And the difference is abysmal between continents.