Millionaires hold 41% of world's private wealth

18 Jun '15

2 min read

Nearly half of the planet's wealth will be in the hands of millionaires by the end of this decade, according to a new study.

Millionaires worldwide held 41 per cent of the world's private wealth in 2014, up slightly from the year before, according to the Global Wealth 2015 report from Boston Consulting Group. And millionaires will hold 46 per cent of total wealth by 2019, the report says.

The number of millionaires worldwide increased to 17 million in 2014, up about 2 million from the year before. China accounted for about half of that increase, taking that country's total to about 4 million. But the United States still has more millionaires than any other country, with 7 million.

The highest density of millionaires was in Switzerland, where 135 out of every 1,000 households had private wealth greater than $1 million, followed by Bahrain (123), Qatar (116) and Singapore (107).

The US remained the country with the largest number of ultra high net worth (UHNW) households at 5,201, followed by China (1,037), the U.K. (1,019), India (928), and Germany (679).

The report says that private wealth grew the fastest in the Asia-Pacific region which was five times the rate that it increased in North America. Total private wealth globally increased by 12 per cent in 2014 to $164.3 trillion, helped by gains in stocks around the world. That is expected to reach $222.1 trillion by 2019.

The report qualifies private wealth as relatively liquid holdings such as cash, stock and bonds. Other assets which are more difficult to monetize, such as real estate and business ownership, are excluded from the calculation. (SH)

Fibre2fashion News Desk – India

More Textiles News - Global...