Merrill Lynch and Cap Gemini’s World Wealth Report, released in late June 2007, covers the growth in numbers of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) around the world. Some of the highlights:

North America
The HNWI population in the United States expanded by 9.4% in 2006, vs 6.8% in 2005. This was the opposite of what happened in Canada, where the rate of growth in HNWI numbers decreased from 7.2% in 2005 to 6.9% in 2006. North America still totally dominates the HNWI population figures.

Europe
The European HNWI population grew by 6.4% in 2006. Eastern Europe in particular grew markedly.

Latin America
Brazil’s HNWI population grew by a massive 10.1%.

Asia-Pacific
HNWI numbers in Singapore, Indonesia and Taiwan all increased by more than 10% in 2006, with India and China not far behind. Australia’s growth, on the other hand, slowed in 2006.

Middle East and Africa
This region was the only one to see a decrease in wealth per HNWI - there was a slowing in total wealth accumulated, coupled with an increase in the number of HNWIs.

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