GCC Oil-Exporting Enjoy $4.5 Trillion of Household Wealth, Among Top 10 Countries in the World

Dubai, UAE, June 2012

Millionaire households: UAE ranks 6th in world

Khaleej Times, Issac John / 7 June 2012

The UAE and three other GCC countries rank among the top-10 countries in the world by proportion of millionaire households as private financial wealth in the Middle East and Africa region soared to $4.5 trillion in 2011, according to a new study.

The UAE was sixth in the global ranking with five millionaire households per 100, the Boston Consulting Group, or BCG, said in its report, entitled The Battle to Regain Strength: Global Wealth 2012. In 2009 also, the UAE was sixth in the world in the concentration of millionaire households. The report defines these households as having over $1 million in cash, stock and other assets, excluding property, businesses and luxury goods.

Markus Massi, partner and managing director at BCG Middle East, said besides the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain were among the top-10 countries by proportion of millionaire households. “While Singapore led the list with 17 millionaire households per 100, Qatar stood at second place with 14.3 per cent millionaire households; Kuwait came in third (11.8 per cent); and Bahrain stood at 10th place (3.2 per cent).”

Fuelled by new wealth in developing countries, such as China and India, the number of millionaires around the world also continued to grow by 175,000 in 2011. There were 12.6 million millionaire households worldwide by the end of 2011, 5.1 million of which were located in the United States.

Even as India’s once fast-track economy shows signs of a slowdown, the number of millionaire households in Asia’s third-largest economy continued to grow, with the country taking 13th place in the global ranking.

The number of millionaire households in India jumped nearly 21 per cent to 162,000 in 2011 from 134,000 in 2010.

Despite the meltdown, the US, ranked seventh, still had the largest number of millionaire households (5.134 million), followed by Japan (1.587 million) and China (1.432 million). The United States also lagged when it came to the proportion of “ultra-high-net-worth” households, defined by the BCG as those with more than $100 million in wealth.

Switzerland topped the list with 11 in every 100,000 households, followed by Singapore with 10 in every 100,000 households. Hong Kong was the leader in the number of billionaires.

According to Forbes Middle East, the Arab world boasts 36 billionaires with an accumulated wealth of more than $121 billion, up from $117.6 billion in the previous year.

Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud heads the list with an estimated fortune of $18 billion. Lebanese billionaire Joseph Safra was second with $13.8 billion. issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com

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