Qatar and UAE are the two richest nations in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, with the average adult owning more than half a million dirhams, according to a new report.
The Credit Suisse Research Institute released on Sunday its sixth annual Global Wealth Report, which looks at how the middle class has developed over the years, or since the turn of the century.
The report said that from mid-2014 to mid-2015, the aggregate amount of fortunes created around the world fell by $13 trillion due to the rise of the US dollar. If measured at constant exchange rates, however, global wealth would have risen by $13 trillion since last year.
People across the globe will continue to increase their fortunes in the next few years, with the number of dollar millionaires alone forecast to exceed 49.3 million adults in 2020, registering more than 46 per cent increase.
The Mena region is home to 330,000 millionaires, up by more than 240 per cent since 2000. By 2020, the millionaire population in the region is forecast to reach 500,000, up by another 52 per cent.
In terms of how much fortunes Mena residents have acquired, Qatar ranks first, with the average wealth per adult pegged at $157,000 (Dh576,653) in mid 2015, rising by 0.8 per cent from the same period last year. Qatar also ranked 21st globally in terms of per capita wealth, up from the 29th position in 2000.
The second-richest country in the region is the UAE, where the average wealth per adult is pegged at $144,400 (Dh530,373), which registered a decline of 0.3 per cent from a year ago.
The millionaire population in the UAE, which currently stands at 59,000 adults, is expected to grow by 62 per cent to 96,000 in 2020.
Not far behind is Kuwait, where the average wealth per adult is estimated to be around $113,400, a decline of 7.6 per cent from a year earlier.
In Bahrain, private wealth per adult dropped by 0.3 per cent, while in Saudi Arabia, the figure rose by 0.9 per cent to reach $39,500.
Credit Suisse estimated that both Saudi Arabia and UAE will see the most significant increase in the number of wealthy residents in the next five years.
Gulf News
20 October
