Females make up 49.6% of the world’s total population, and yet inequality in business and finance is still prominent in most countries. Financial success may depend on the country you live in, but just how big is the difference in opportunity around the globe?
Interested in which countries have the most female billionaires, and which countries provide the most – or least – opportunities for female success, UpCounsel analysed the ‘Forbes World Billionaires’ list to find out which countries are home to the most female billionaires in 2022.
The five countries with the most female billionaires in 2022
| Rank | Country | Number of female billionaires | % of billionaires in country who are women |
| 1 | US | 86 | 12% |
| 2 | China | 51 | 9% |
| 3 | Germany | 34 | 25% |
| 4 | Italy | 16 | 31% |
| =5 | Hong Kong | 11 | 16% |
| =5 | India | 11 | 7% |
*An = sign indicates a joint ranking.
UpCounsel can reveal that the country with the most female billionaires is the USA. The country is home to a staggering 86 female billionaires, but with a grand total of 735 billionaires, only 12% of the country’s billionaires are female.
In second place is China – home to 51 female billionaires, and placing third is Germany with 34 female billionaires.
Despite ranking fourth on the list, Italy is the top-five country with the highest proportion of female billionaires as 16 of the country’s 52 billionaires are female.
The top five countries with the lowest percentage of female billionaires in 2022
| Rank | Country | Number of female billionaires | % of billionaires in country who are women |
| 1 | Russia | 2 | 2% |
| 2 | Indonesia | 1 | 3% |
| =3 | United Kingdom | 2 | 4% |
| =3 | Singapore | 1 | 4% |
| 4 | Japan | 2 | 5% |
| 5 | Taiwan | 3 | 6% |
*An = sign indicates a joint ranking.
The country with the smallest proportion of female billionaires is Russia. Russia is home to 81 billionaires, of which only 2 are female, meaning that, on average, just 2% of Russia’s billionaires are women.
Indonesia ranks as the country with the second smallest proportion of female billionaires, with just 3% of the country’s 30 billionaires being women.
Surprisingly, the UK and Singapore rank joint third, with just 4% of billionaires from these countries being female. Despite having 50 billionaires currently residing in the UK, only 2 of them are female.