Saudi ultra-rich population to jump 18% in next 5 years: Knight Frank

Saudi Arabia’s ultra-wealthy population is expected to increase 18 percent over the next five years, according to The Wealth Report by Knight Frank.

The number of ultra-wealthy people (those with net assets of $50 million or more) in the Kingdom rose 4 percent in 2017, reaching 1,540, it added.

The Middle East remains one of the world’s key wealth regions, ranking in the fourth position just after Europe in terms of wealth held by ultra-wealthy people. North America leads the chart.

Separately, the number of ultra-wealthy individuals worldwide rose 10 percent in 2017, taking the global population to 129,730, with a combined worth of $26.4 trillion.

The report noted that the ultra-wealthy population grew at a “notably more rapid rate” in 2017 than in the previous five years when there was a cumulative 18 percent increase.

"Solid forecasts for the global economy underpin the wealth specialist’s prediction that the number of individuals with net assets of $50 million or more will have grown by a further 40 percent by 2022," it added.

Meanwhile, in Knight Frank’s annual “Attitudes Survey,” half of the respondents from the Middle East said they were planning to invest in properties outside their domestic market over the next few years in comparison to a global average of 34 percent.

"This means that the split between domestic and overseas property investment will continue to rebalance as investors from the Middle East are eying new global channel investment for appealing returns and portfolio diversification purposes," the report added.