Middle East Super Wealth Growing Fastest in the World

Middle East Super Wealth Growing Fastest in the World

Although the US continues to lead the way with the largest population of UHNWs, the Middle East’s rich are becoming richer faster than any other region, according to the latest global ultra wealth report by Wealth-X and UBS.

The report attributes this in part to the Arab Spring as governments invested heavily on the back of a rise in oil prices. It says: “The Arab Spring that swept across the Middle East is known as a political event, but its aftermath could be said to have brought an economic renewal.”

The Middle East saw the number of UHNW individuals grow by 15% to 5,300, while their collective wealth grew by 23.9% in the past year to $880bn. This outpaced the global UHNW population growth figures of 6.3% to 199,235 and a collective global wealth rise of 7.7% to $27,770bn.

Despite this acceleration, the region’s wealth remains far behind the rest of the world and the Middle East only accounts for 2.6% of the world’s richest people.

The US has the largest UHNW population, with 70,485 people worth $9.68trn, followed by Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Oceania and Africa.

Saudi Arabia has the highest number of billionaires in the Middle East with 64 worth $204bn, as well as the largest proportion of ultra rich people of the region with 1360, up 17% in the last year, and they are worth $285bn, up 26.7%.

In spite of having the highest ratio of billionaires of any country analysed in the report, Saudi Arabia has one of the lowest levels of self-made UHNW individuals, with less than one-third. Wealthy females are also underrepresented, with only 40, worth a total of $14bn. However, those Saudi females have a greater net worth share than countries such as the UAE, Canada and Indonesia.

The UAE is second highest in the Middle East, with Kuwait ranked third. The majority of the UAE’s wealthy are self-made at 59%. There are 1050 UHNW individuals worth $190bn, including 37 billionaires with a total of $45bn.

Referring again to the part the Arab Spring played in the surge of numbers of the super wealthy of the region, the report states: “High oil prices spurred economic growth for Middle Eastern countries and government spending rose accordingly to address the shortage of housing as well as inadequate infrastructure. Countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates benefitted most from the export-led growth.

“The ongoing civil war in Syria, however, has had a devastating impact on its economy and saw a fall in the country’s UHNW population and wealth, the only Middle Eastern country to experience this. Potential threats include a drop in oil demand and prices, as well as risks from civil unrests.”

Sources: arabianbusiness.com/ Wealth-X and UBS

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