A new report from the Swiss bank UBS and auditing firm PwC shows that in 2018, there was a 4.3 per cent or $388 billion drop in the collective wealth of the billionaires of the world after increasing for straight five years.

Out of a total of 2,101 billionaires worldwide, the number dropped by 75 by the end of the year, the report noted.

The report also pointed out that the cause behind the drop in the wealth of billionaires was because of a range of economic and financial events which includes trade tensions and market volatility.

The largest loss of wealth for billionaires was reported from Asia.

There was a drop of 12.3 per cent measured in US dollars in the net worth of Chinese billionaires during the year. According to the report, a depreciation in the Chinese yuan against the US dollar was the cause of about 50 per cent of the drop in wealth.

Among the Asian region where the largest number of billionaires was delisted, the largest numbers were reported from China and India. There were 325 billionaires left in China by the end of the year as 48 billionaires were left out of the list.

Despite this drop, the largest number of billionaires was from Asia. Over the past five years, the billionaires from China have increased their ranks quickly and became the largest group of billionaires in the world after North America.

Billionaires in the Americas made out the best last year despite the worldwide losses.

While other parts of the world saw a drop in billionaires, there was actually an increase in the number of billionaires in the United States because of increase of wealth form the success of the tech industry. Compared to 70 in 2017, the number of tech billionaire sin the US increased by 19 by the end of 2018. The total number of billionaires rose up by 4.8 per cent in 2018 to reach a total of 749 billionaires in the region even though there was no rise in the amount of wealth held by billionaires across the Americas.

The growth in the global economy was driven by technology entrepreneurs who accounted for almost one third of the total growth in billionaire wealth during the last five years. The report noted that $1.3 trillion in assets by the end of 2018 was held by tech billionaires alone. The net wealth of this group of billionaires almost doubled in the last five years.

The report also noted that engagement in philanthropy by the billionaires continued to rise across the globe with 400 of the top 500 billionaires engaging in public philanthropy activities. Billionaires in the US donated for both international and domestic causes while the billionaires in Europe primarily gave away portions of their wealth towards international projects. Billionaires of Asia mostly donated to local issues. During 2018, the highest donation from billionaires was given to the education sector, followed by health care and culture and the arts. The least amount in terms of charitable donations was given away to causes related to poverty and the environment.

(Adapted from CNN.com)

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