12 million new millionaires will be minted over the next five years
Report says rate of growth for new millionaires will rise from 2 per cent to six per cent annually
The world is about to mint a whole new batch of millionaires.
After experiencing modest growth over 2015, the global millionaire count is seen rising at a faster clip over the next five years, a new report has found.
According to the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report, released Tuesday, the worldwide number of millionaires rose by less than 2 per cent over the past year, to 32.9 million. Credit Suisse predicts that rate of growth will accelerate to about 6 per cent annually — roughly in line with the past 16 years — and lead to a record 45.1 million millionaires by 2021.
The biggest driver of growth has been an overall uptick in global wealth, rather than greater inequality.
“The whole distribution of wealth is shifting as the world becomes a wealthier place, progressively lowering the bar for membership over time,” the report said. “Increasing inequality can also boost the speed at which new millionaires are created, although the fact that wealth inequality is roughly unchanged since the start of the century suggests that inequality was not the primary driver of rising [ultrahigh net worth] numbers at the global level.”
Ultrahigh net worth individuals are those with assets worth more than US$50 million.