According to the Hurun Research Institute, there are 2,694 billionaires in the world. Of these, 69% are completely self-made while only 9% inherited their wealth. Where do the world’s richest people live, though? Surprisingly, they don’t necessarily live in the world’s richest countries. These are the countries with the most billionaires.

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20. United Arab Emirates
The Hurun Global Rich List 2018 says that there are 24 billionaires in the United Arab Emirates. The country’s richest person, according to Forbes, is Abdulla bin Ahmad Al Ghurair.
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19. Spain
Spain is home to 25 billionaires. Spain’s two richest people according to Forbes are Amancio Ortega – also among the top 10 richest people in the world – and his daughter Sandra Ortega Mera, making them one of the world’s richest families.

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18. Mexico
There are 26 billionaires in Mexico. Topping Bloomberg’s list of Mexican billionaires is Carlos Slim Helu, who is also among the top 10 richest people in the world. If you want to travel to Mexico to look for the billionaire of your dreams, you’ll be happy to know that it’s one of the countries where the Canadian dollar is surprisingly strong.

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17. Turkey
Turkey has 30 billionaires. The country’s richest person as listed by Forbes is Murat Ulker.
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16. Singapore
Home to 31 billionaires, Singapore is also third among the world’s richest countries. Bloomberg lists the richest person in Singapore as Goh Cheng Liang.

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15. South Korea
There are 33 billionaires in South Korea and Lee Kun-Hee is the country's richest, says Forbes.

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14. Australia
With its high quality of life, Australia is one of the best countries to live and work abroad. The land Down Under is also home to 41 billionaires. The richest person in Australia as listed by Forbes is Gina Rinehart.

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13. Thailand
Thailand is not only home to places where you can retire on $2,000 a month but is also home to 44 billionaires. Bloomberg says that the richest person in Thailand is Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi.

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12. Italy
Italy is home to 44 billionaires and Forbes lists the richest person there as Giovanni Ferrero.

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11. Japan
There are 46 billionaires in Japan and, according to Bloomberg, the richest is Tadashi Yanai.

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10. Canada
If you can land one of the jobs in Canada that pay over 300k a year, you too might be able to join the ranks of Canada’s billionaires, of which there are 49. Forbes says that the richest person in Canada is David Thomson.

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9. Brazil
While many Brazilians live in abject poverty, the country is also home to 49 billionaires, making it one of the most income unequal countries in the world. Bloomberg lists the richest Brazilian as Jorge Paulo Lemann.

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8. France
France has 51 billionaires. Forbes says that Bernard Arnault is the richest person in France and the fourth richest person in the world. The only other French person among the top 20 richest in the world is Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, who also happens to top the list of the world’s wealthiest women.

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7. Russia
There are 71 billionaires in Russia. The richest of them, according to Forbes, is Vladimir Lisin. While most of the richest Russians are in their 50s and 60s, some – like Mikhail Prokhorov – also happen to be billionaires who are single.

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6. Switzerland
As one of the top 10 tax havens in the world, it’s not surprising that Switzerland is home to a good number of billionaires – 83 of them, in fact. Bloomberg lists Ernesto Bertarelli as the richest person in Switzerland.

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5. Germany
Germany is home to 114 billionaires. Forbes reports that the richest Germans are Beate Heister and Karl Albrecht Jr.

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4. United Kingdom
There are 118 billionaires in the United Kingdom. The richest British billionaire is Jim Ratcliffe, according to Bloomberg. While the Queen may not be among the United Kingdom’s billionaires, she still is one of the richest world leaders.

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3. India
India has 131 billionaires, but only one, Mukesh Ambani, has made it to the top 20 of the Forbes list of the world’s richest.

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2. United States
The United States is home to 571 billionaires. Forbes lists 13 American billionaires among its top 20 richest people in the world, with the three richest billionaires – Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett – all coming from the US. Among the ten richest Americans, six have made their money through tech.

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1. Greater China
The Hurun Global Rich List 2018 says that there are 819 billionaires in Greater China, which includes Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Bloomberg lists only two billionaires – Jack Ma and Ma Huateng – from Greater China among its top 20. Both have made their money through tech, although real estate is a source of wealth for many billionaires in Greater China too, especially in Hong Kong.
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