More than 3.5 million people lost their ‘dollar millionaire’ status in 2022 during the first fall in global wealth since the 2008 financial crisis, a study has found.

The number of adults with assets totalling more than $1m (£790,000) dropped from 62.9 million at the end of 2021 to 59.4 million at the end of last year, according to the Global Wealth Report launched by Credit Suisse and UBS.

The number of millionaires in the US fell by 1.8 million to 22.7 million, but there are still far more than in any other nation, while in the UK the number dropped by 440,000 to 2.6 million, the third largest globally.

The world’s privately held wealth fell 2.4 per cent to $454.4 trillion at the end of last year, as $11.3 trillion was stripped from the value of personal assets by high inflation and weaker currencies.

The invasion of Ukraine for was blamed for causing the lift in inflation in 2022.

According to separate research for the Bloomberg billionaires index, the richest 500 people in the world lost a total of $1.4 trillion in 2022.

The report from Credit Suisse and UBS shows that, measured in current nominal USD, wealth per adult also declined by $3,198 to reach $84,718 per adult. 

Much of this decline comes from the appreciation of the US dollar against many other currencies. 

Financial assets contributed most to wealth declines in 2022, while non-financial assets (mostly real estate) stayed resilient, despite rapidly rising interest rates.

Regionally, the report shows the loss of global wealth was heavily concentrated in wealthier regions such as North America and Europe, which together shed $10.9 trillion.

Asia Pacific recorded losses of $2.1 trillion.

Latin America experienced a total wealth increase of $2.4 trillion, helped by an average 6 per cent currency appreciation against the US dollar.

In terms of losses in market terms in 2022, the United States headed the list, followed by Japan, China, Canada and Australia.

The largest wealth increases at the other end were recorded for Russia, Mexico, India and Brazil.

In terms of wealth per adult, Switzerland has stayed at the top of the list followed by the USA, Hong Kong SAR, Australia and Denmark despite sizeable reductions in mean wealth versus 2021.

Along with the decline in aggregate wealth, overall wealth inequality also fell in 2022, with the wealth share of the global top 1 per cent falling to 44.5 per cent.

Global wealth will increase by 38 per cent to $629 trillion by 2027, according to the report’s projections. 

Growth by middle-income markets will be the primary driver of global trends.

The number of millionaires will rise to 86 million by 2027, according to the estimates. 

Nannette Hechler-Fayd’herbe, Chief Investment Officer for the EMEA region and Global Head of Economics & Research at Credit Suisse, said: ‘Wealth evolution proved resilient during the COVID-19 era and grew at a record pace during 2021. But inflation, rising interest rates and currency depreciation caused a reversal in 2022.’

Anthony Shorrocks, economist and report author, said: ‘Much of the decline in wealth in 2022 was driven by high inflation and the appreciation of the US dollar against many other currencies. If exchange rates were held constant at 2021 rates, then total wealth would have increased by 3.4% and wealth per adult by 2.2% during 2022. 

‘This is still the slowest increase of wealth at constant exchange rates since 2008. Keeping exchange rates constant but counting the effects of inflation results in a real wealth loss of –2.6% in 2022. 

‘Similarly, financial assets contributed most to wealth declines while non-financial assets (mostly real estate) stayed resilient, despite rapidly rising interest rates. But the relative contributions of financial and non-financial assets may reverse in 2023 if house prices decline in response to higher interest rates.’

The dismembered remains of a missing ‘millionaire’ crypto influencer have been found stuffed inside a suitcase in Argentina just weeks after his disturbing last posts described ‘evil people’ who wanted to ‘destroy’ him. 

‘Cleanly chopped’ body parts of Fernando Pérez Algaba, 41, were found in an abandoned red suitcase by two children playing football in a stream in Ingeniero Budge, Buenos Aires, on July 23. 

Algaba’s body, which had sustained two bullet wounds, was found days after he was reported missing on July 19. 

At the scene investigators reportedly found the victim’s legs and a forearm in the suitcase before finding a complete arm in the stream. A torso was then spotted and his head was found inside a backpack. 

The body parts were cleanly amputated, suggesting that the mutilation could have been carried out by a professional. 

A four-letter tattoo on a hand confirmed that the remains belonged to Algaba, with fingerprint analysis later providing further confirmation. 

According to the autopsy, Algaba, who was nicknamed ‘Lechuga’ (Lettuce) and is claimed to have been in severe debt, was killed with two shots that entered his back area, according to Argentinian agency Telam. 

A murder investigation has been launched, and one suspect has reportedly been arrested. 

A suspect was arrested and appeared in court on Thursday after investigators discovered it was their suitcase used in the murder. It is thought that the luggage was taken from their home but it is unclear if they are connected with the attack. 

According to local media, Algaba had sent and received more than 200 audio and text messages of a hostile nature.

Algaba had reportedly been threatened by a man who was demanding the return of a debt close to $70,000 and claimed Algaba was ‘poisonous’ and had ‘betrayed him’.

‘I’m not going to kill you, I’m going to do something worse to you, I’m going to gouge out your eyes and cut off your hands so that you can’t have any more money in your life,’ one of the messages said according to Telam. 

Further messages referred to two other men to whom Algaba allegedly owed money.  

Algaba had also racked up ‘irrecoverable’ debts with Argentina’s tax agency when his company, Motors Lettuce SRL, was struggling financially. 

The businessman left a note on his phone admitting that he had lost a significant amount of money after investing in crypto, La Nacion reported. 

Algaba had 918,000 followers on Instagram, where he flaunted his luxury life of high-end cars, jet skis and exclusive parties.

But before his death, he had made a series of disturbing posts on social media.

One of them showed the heavily inked businessman in a car with an accompanying audio recording saying: ‘It’s incredible how there are such evil people in the world that while you’re thinking of helping them, they’re thinking of destroying you.’

Another audio clip said: ‘Hello, mum, I needed to clear my head as always. And from here, I am realising two things: that we can’t escape from problems and that problems will follow us.’ 

It is unclear when the murder took place, but a woman told the authorities she had arranged to meet with him on July 19 to hand back the keys to the apartment he rented to her, but he had failed to show up.

The businessman described himself as an investor who also sold and rented luxury vehicles.

But Algaba reportedly found himself under financial and legal pressure, with one of his companies failing to even have a tax identification number while another was reported for fraud and a third had debts.

His creditors had also been pursuing him in recent years, opening lawsuits against him following bounced cheques.

According to local media, Algaba had a rags-to-riches backstory.

He used to sell sandwiches and deliver pizzas in his hometown before buying vehicles to repair and resell. 

He started selling sandwiches aged 14 but later made a fortune investing in cryptocurrencies and the stock market.

By the time he was 24, he had a huge warehouse full of high-end vehicles.

Algaba once said in an interview: ‘I travelled to Paraguay a lot to buy tyres; they were much cheaper than in Argentina.

‘This allowed me to refurbish the cars and resell them at a better price.’

He had registered several companies through notaries in recent years.

He had been living in Miami in the USA until early this year, when he travelled to Spain. Shortly before his killing, he had returned to Argentina.