Saudi Arabia among top 10 countries for billionaires globally

Saudi Arabia has been ranked among the top 10 countries globally in terms of the number of billionaires as the Kingdom is home to 57 of them, holding $157 billion in wealth, according to Wealth-X Billionaire Census 2019.

The Kingdom was the ninth biggest market for ultra wealthy, maintaining its ranking of last year.

The UAE was the only other Arab country in the top 10 list, ranking tenth.

However, despite positive equity markets and expanding economies, billionaires’ fortunes worsened in Saudi Arabia and the UAE last year, the report added.

The Middle East experienced a 7.9 percent fall in billionaire numbers in 2018, which translated to a 6.5 percent drop in its collective wealth, marginally better than the global average, the Wealth-X report noted.

“Support from gradually rising oil prices reversed sharply in late 2018, when commodity markets slumped amid the broader global slowdown,” the Wealth-X report added.

There were double-digit rates of decline in Africa’s billionaire population and combined net worth in 2018, driven mainly by oil-price volatility and currency weakness.

Globally also, amid a slowdown in global growth, persistent trade tensions and a late-year slump in equity markets, the billionaire wealth declined by 7 percent to $8.6 trillion; while the billionaire population declined by 5.4 percent to 2,604, according to Wealth-X Billionaire Census 2019.

This is only the second time the number suffered an annual fall since the financial crash a decade ago, the report added.

Billionaire wealth fell in all regions with the largest decline in Asia Pacific. North America was the only region to record an increase in its billionaire population.

Among the top 15 countries by billionaire population, all saw a fall in the number of such individuals apart from the US and three European countries — the UK, Russia and France.

All the major Asia-Pacific billionaire countries — China, Hong Kong, India and Singapore — declined in population and total wealth.

The region with the largest billionaire population, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), recorded a much slower rate of decline in billionaire numbers (-4.6 percent) than Asia Pacific, but a fall in combined wealth of 7.1 percent was only slightly lower, implying larger average losses, according to Wealth-X report.

Performance varied across the region, with the billionaire population in Europe registering the smallest falls, whereas the Middle East saw the slowest pace of decline in billionaire net worth.

The report analyzes the status of the world’s billionaires, who, despite being modest in number — and falling in 2018 — hold immense wealth and wield a significant influence over the global economy.

Here’s the top 10 list

1) United States

2) China

3) Germany

4) Russia

5) United Kingdom

6) Switzerland

7) Hong Kong

8) India

9) Saudi Arabia

10) France