By Santhosh V Perumal/Business Reporter


Qatar recorded the highest average wealth per adult in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region at $153,294 in mid 2013, growing 2% over the same period last year, according to Credit Suisse Global Wealth report.
The UAE followed closely with $126,791, rising 4%; while Kuwait was placed third in the region with an average wealth per adult of $119,101 but declined 0.3% from last year.
The average wealth per adult in Oman and Bahrain grew 2% from mid-last year and average wealth per adult in Saudi Arabia, the largest economy in the region, rose 0.7% from mid 2012 to reach $37,346; while Egypt’s wealth per adult fell 12% to $7,285.
However, in terms of total wealth, Saudi Arabia ranked first with an estimated $0.6tn, closely followed by the UAE with an estimated $0.5tn. Egypt ranked third, with an estimated $0.4tn.
The richest nations, with wealth per adult over $100,000, are found in North America, Western Europe, and among the rich Asia-Pacific and Middle Eastern countries, it said.
The “intermediate wealth” group, which covers countries with mean wealth in the $25,000 to $100,000 range, encompasses a number of Middle Eastern nations (Bahrain, Oman, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia).
The Credit Suisse Research Institute, which yesterday released its fourth annual report, found that from mid-2012 to mid-2013 aggregate global household wealth increased by 4.9% in current dollar terms to $241tn despite continuing challenges posed by the economic environment.
North America gained $8.4trn, an increase of 11.9%, fuelled by a recovery in house prices and a bull equity market in the US. It became the lead region in terms of total net wealth for the first time since 2005, overtaking Europe, which added $5.5tn, an increase of 7.7%.
It said 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.
“The global wealth report shows a $11tn rise in wealth to over $241tn, with the US as the clear winner overtaking Europe and APAC (Asia Pacific) falling back due to the sharp depreciation of the yen,” according to Giles Keating, Global Head of Research for Private Banking and Wealth Management, Credit Suisse.
As a result of a 22% depreciation of the Japanese yen against the dollar during the period, household wealth in Japan dropped 20.5% to $22.6tn, dragging total wealth in APAC by 3.7% to $73.9tn. But APAC (ex-Japan) continued to register stable wealth growth by 6.2% to $51.3tn in mid-2013.
The report looked 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, Keating said.
The report forecast that global wealth is to rise by nearly 40% in the next five years, reaching $334tn by 2018 as the emerging markets are set to increase their share of global wealth to 23% by 2018, with China alone expected to represent over 10% of global wealth then.
It also said the number of millionaires worldwide is slated to increase by about 16mn reaching 47mn in 2018.
The US is expected to remain the “undisputed leader” in terms of aggregate wealth, with total net worth approaching $100trn by 2018, it said.