UK’s 50 richest families hold more wealth than 50% of population, analysis finds

The financial district of the City of London. Property, inheritance and finance were said to account for over half of billionaires’ total current wealth. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

The number of billionaires in the UK has grown sharply – from 15 in 1990 to 165 in 2024 – at the same time as inequality in the UK’s overall wealth distribution has dramatically increased, analysis has found.

Timed to coincide with the Sunday Times’ rich list, the Equality Trust’s investigation also found that billionaires have become “ludicrously” more wealthy, with their average wealth rocketing by more than 1,000% over the same period.