[imagesource: Reuters / Siphiwe Sibeko]

The fact that the wealthy became more wealthy and the poor even poorer over the last two years is now backed up by actual numbers.

Last year saw the addition of 52 000 ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) – anyone with a net worth of at least $30 million (R460 million), including primary residences – spread across the globe.

Although, that trend seems to have sidestepped Africa, which largely saw a decline in wealth.

This very much includes South Africa.

According to property consultancy Knight Frank’s 2022 Wealth Report, wealth creation was supercharged by a global economic rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing the number of UHNWIs across the globe by 9,3% last year and 2,4% in 2020.

In comparison, the number of UHNWIs in South Africa took a knock with a 7% decrease over the last year, putting the number of ultra-rich folk in the country at 561 in 2021, down from 603 in 2020.

That decline is apparently the latest of any country on the ranking, reported BusinessTech.

Ouch.

UHNWIs in these five regions saw the most gains in 2021: the US, the UK, France, Japan, and China, reported National News:

“We haven’t seen that level of wealth growth since 2017,” said Flora Harley, deputy editor of The Wealth Report.

“We saw huge amounts of savings as people didn’t go out and spend in restaurants or on holidays. All of this resulted in an accumulation of wealth.”

Knight Frank added that asset prices from property markets to stock markets and luxury collectables all helped to boost the fortunes of those wealthy enough to hold investment portfolios.

And this is apparently something that will only be gaining momentum over the coming years.

It is expected that there will be a further 28,3% increase in global UHNWI numbers by 2026, with Asia surpassing Europe as the second-largest regional wealth hub.

The report acknowledged the rise in cryptocurrency investments as a way to build wealth, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

[sources:businesstech&nationalnews]