There’s going to be a big increase in the number of ultra-wealthy people in the Middle East over the next five years.
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That’s according to a recent analysis from real estate consultancy Knight Frank, which just updated its Wealth Report. The analysis says there’ll be an increase of 28% in the number of people with over USD 500 million in net assets in the Middle East by 2022.
“Demi-billionaires” is what Knight Frank calls them.
The consultancy said that, as of 2017, there are 390 individuals with such riches in the Middle East right now. But by 2022, that number is expected to reach around 500.
The increase will be most pronounced in Saudi Arabia, where the demi-billionaire population is expected to rise 17% to around 140.
And this is despite the fact that the global economy is hardly at its most stable. Trade disputes between the United States and China, and Brexit, are just two of the challenges faced by the ultra-wealthy so far.
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However, Knight Frank said that the number of demi-billionaires should still grow.
“It is too early to say how UHNWIs [ultra high net worth individuals] will react to the political events of 2018 so far, but our data shows that they tend to take a longer view,” said Winston Chesterfield, director of custom research at Wealth-X, who was quoted in the report.
“The vast majority of UNHWIs are entrepreneurs, and, as such, have dealt with adverse business conditions before. As a result, they are prepared to take a more balanced view in periods of uncertainty or ambiguity.”
