The UAE recorded the world’s fastest growth rate in the number of ultra-rich individuals with an 18.1 per cent annual increase in 2022 as the Middle East region stood out with an impressive 16.9 growth in their population while across the globe their category has shrunk.

Last year’s phenomenal surge in the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) on the back of an array of path-breaking reforms and innovative measures unleashed by the UAE drove their population to 1,116. Saudi Arabia was not far behind with 10.4 per cent annual growth, according to the latest issue of The Wealth Report by Knight Frank.

UHNWIs are those with $30 million plus in net assets while high net-worth Individuals (HNWIs) are those with $1.0 million or more assets.

In 2022, the global population of UHNWIs declined by 3.8 per cent after a record climb of 9.3 per cent in 2021. “Despite the fall, however, several growth hubs remained both at a regional and country level as well as across wealth bands — billionaires, UHNWIs, and HNWIs., the report said.

Three of the top 10 fastest-growing UHNW markets were in Asia with Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore seeing their wealth populations expand by 7-9 per cent.

Over the next five years, the report forecasts that the global UHNW population will expand by 28.5 per cent to almost 750,000 from 579,625 in 2022.

Liam Bailey, global head of research at Knight Frank, said: “The fall last year in the total number of UHNWIs globally was due in large part to the weak performing equities and bond markets. On the flip side, however, 100 prime residential markets globally saw an average price growth of 5.2 per cent and luxury investment assets grow 16 per cent which helped steady the decline. The dip is just that.

“Taking the longer view, the global UHNW population grew by 44 per cent in the five years to 2022 and, although we forecast growth to slow to 28.5 per cent over the next five years, the recent dip will prove short-lived as we adapt to a new economic environment,” said Bailey.

Africa also proved resilient with 6.3 per cent growth in UHNWIs while Australasia and the Americas remained largely static with 0.7 per cent and 0.2 per cent growth respectively.

The top 10 locations for forecast growth are dominated by European and Asian economies. Hungary is expected to come out top with 75 per cent growth in their HNW population, followed by Turkey (70 per cent) and Poland (67 per cent). However, the US will retain its dominance with the largest global HNW population, which is forecast to increase by 24.6 per cent.

Within the latest update of The Wealth Report, Knight Frank has identified the level of net individual wealth it takes to reach the 1 per cent threshold across the world. This varies sharply from country to country but to access ‘the 1.0 per cent’ falls well short of Knight Frank’s definition of a UHNWI – somebody whose net wealth exceeds $30 million.

In Monaco, which has the world’s densest population of super-rich individuals, the entry point for the principality’s branch of the 1.0 per cent is $12.4 million. That level is still almost double that of second place which is held by Switzerland at $6.6 million. For the UAE, Middle East’s highest entry, the level required is $1.6 million and Brazil comes on top of Latin American markets with $430,000 threshold.

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