World Wealth Report

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State of the World's Wealth

HNWI Sector Gains in 2004

The HNWI market in 2004 continues to grow substantially for the 2nd year in a row in both number of individuals and assets. Looking regionally, North America grew by nearly 10% to reach 2.7 million HNWIs in 2004, surpassing the European HNWI population of 2.6 million for the first time since 2001. Asia-Pacific’s growth rate of over 8% was twice that of Europe’s growth rate, resulted in a HNWI population of 2.3 million in Asia Pacific.

Specifically, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and India saw the among the highest rates of HNWI population growth in 2004 to some extent thanks to the booming Chinese market, while wealthy people in South Africa and the Middle East benefited from the rise in commodity and oil prices. Growth lagged generally in Europe, with only two nations – the United Kingdom and Spain – showing HNWI population growth comparable to the worldwide rate.