UAE to create most millionaires - and most quickly - in GCC

The UAE is forecast to be the fastest-growing GCC country when it comes to millionaire performance over the next 10 years, according to ‘New World Wealth’.

Within the GCC, the UAE is followed by Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Talking about the Middle East, Jordan is expected to be the fastest-growing market for millionaires over this period even. However, the total number of millionaires is way less than Turkey, which features second on the list.

Data from ‘New World Wealth’ reveals there are approximately 460,000 millionaires living in the Middle East (as of December 2014), with combined wealth holdings of $2.2 trillion.

This equates to 48 per cent of total wealth held in the region ($4.6 trillion). Millionaires or high net worth individuals (HNWIs) refer to individuals with net assets of $1 million or more.

However, several country projections are constrained by certain factors, including economic performance. Crude oil prices declined by over 50 per cent during the past year (2014), and this may impact economic growth numbers in the short term.

According to previous data released by WealthInsight, the rich club in the UAE stands at 50,595 by the end of 2014. This number was 35,960 in 2010, which marks a growth of 8.9 per cent. The biggest economy in the region, Saudi Arabia, had 49,168 millionaires at the end of last year and the number in Qatar stood at 34,785.

Middle East: Millionaire growth forecast by country, 2014-2024

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