DOHA: Qatar recorded the highest average wealth per adult of $153,294 in mid-2013 in the Mena region, up two percent, from the same period last year, said a report.
The fourth annual Global Wealth Report 2013 released by Credit Suisse Research Institute yesterday noted the UAE followed closely with $126,791, rising four percent since 2012.
Kuwait was placed third in the region with an average wealth per adult of $119,101 but declined 0.3 per cent from last year. The average wealth per adult in Oman and Bahrain grew 2 per cent from mid last year.
Average wealth per adult in Saudi Arabia, the largest economy in the region, rose 0.7 per cent from mid-2012 to reach $37,346 while Egypt’s wealth per adult fell 12 percent to $ 7,285.
However, in terms of total wealth, however, Saudi Arabia ranked first with an estimated $0.6 trillion, closely followed by UAE with an estimated $0.5 trillion. Egypt ranked third, with an estimated $0.4 trillion.
The Credit Suisse Research note found that from mid-2012 to mid-2013 aggregate global household wealth increased by 4.9 percent in current dollar terms to $241 trillion, despite the continuing challenges posed by the economic environment.
North America gained $ 8.4 trillion, an increase of 11.9 percent, fueled by a recovery in house prices and a bull equity market in the United States. It became the lead region in terms of total net wealth for the first time since 2005, overtaking European holdings, which added $ 5.5 trillion, an increase of 7.7 percent.
As a result of a 22 percent depreciation of the Japanese yen against the US dollar during the period, household wealth in Japan dropped 20.5 percent to $ 22.6 trillion, dragging down total wealth in Asia Pacific by 3.7 percent to $73.9 trillion. However, Asia Pacific ex-Japan continued to register stable wealth growth by 6.2 percent to $51.3 trillion in mid-2013.
According to the report, emerging markets are to increase their share of global wealth to 23 percent by 2018, with China alone expected to represent over 10 percent of global wealth. The US is to remain the undisputed leader in terms of aggregate wealth; with total net worth approaching $100 trillion by 2018
Eurozone wealth per adult in 2013 has recovered more than half of the large loss experienced 12 months earlier, mainly due to rising equity prices.
Giles Keating, Global Head of Research for Private Banking & Wealth Management, Credit Suisse, said:
“The fourth annual Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report shows a $11 trillion rise in wealth to over $ 241 trillion, with the US as the clear winner overtaking Europe and APAC falling back due to the sharp depreciation of the yen. We look at wealth mobility for the first time and it appears surprisingly high. For instance, less than two-thirds of the 2000-01 Forbes billionaires remained on the list by 2005, and barely half were on it by the end of the decade.”
The Peninsula
