Ultra-wealthy individuals donated $175 billion to philanthropic causes in 2020, a report from Wealth-X finds.

The sixth report on philanthropic giving published by Wealth-X, Ultra High Net Worth Philanthropy 2022, examined individuals with $30 million or more in net worth and found that contributions from the ultra wealthy and their private foundations accounted for a 36 percent share of global giving by private individuals in 2020. The report also found that growth in giving by ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) individuals outpaced that from other sources in 2020.

In addition, the report found that North America accounted for more than half of global donations from the ultra wealthy, at $91 billion, and that Europe’s ultra wealthy gave a total of $52 billion in 2020, a third of global UHNW giving.

“The ultra wealthy have become progressively more involved in philanthropy over the past decade. This has occurred alongside the rapid growth of the global UHNW population and its cumulative net worth,” the report’s authors, Maya Imberg and Maeen Shaban, write. “Given that sources of philanthropic funding are likely to remain constrained for the foreseeable future, giving by the ultra-wealthy continues to offer significant growth potential.”

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