South Africa is losing extremely wealthy people amid a challenging economic environment.<\/p>\n
According to the latest 2023 Wealth Report by Knight Frank, the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) dropped in South Africa in 2022.<\/p>\n
A UHNWI is someone who has a net worth of $30 million (R575 million) or more, inclusive of their primary residence.<\/p>\n
In South Africa, the number of UHNWIs dropped by 50 individuals<\/strong>, from 592 in 2021 to 542 in 2022 – a 8.4% decrease.<\/p>\n However, the drop was not as severe as for high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) – people with a net worth of $1 million (R19 million) or more.<\/p>\n For HNWIs in South Africa, the total number dropped by 7,479 individuals<\/strong> from 36,228 in 2021 to 28,749 in 2022 – a 20.8% decline.<\/p>\n Although both categories saw drops, Knight Frank said that the number of HNWIs and UHNWIs is expected to increase by 2027.<\/p>\n For UHNWIs, South Africa is expected to gain 61 new super-wealthy, with the total growing 11.3% to 603 by 2027.<\/p>\n The picture for HNWIs is less optimistic. The number of HNWIs is predicted to grow to 34,006 – a 18.3% increase from 2022 – however, this will still be lower than the figure recorded in 2021.<\/p>\n “Despite the ongoing challenges that Africa and South Africa face, it is still a place that is clearly presenting great opportunities for the UHNWI,” Nick Gaertner, Director and COO of Knight Frank South Africa said.<\/p>\n “The last 12 to 18 months has proved a significantly challenging economic environment worldwide, and while it is easy to highlight the flaws within South Africa, it is a country that provides a huge amount of business and investment opportunity, of which UHNWI are clearly managing to take advantage of more so than in most first world and developed countries.”<\/p>\n “Along with issues comes the opportunity to create solutions and promote rapid business growth, which is something that UHNWI are most likely leveraging from.”<\/p>\n Global performance\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Globally, the total of UHNWIs declined by 3.8%, dropping from a record climb of 9.3% the prior year.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fall last year in the total number of UHNWIs globally was due in large part to the weak performing equities and bond markets. On the flip side however, 100 prime residential markets globally saw average price growth of 5.2% and luxury investment assets grow 16%, which helped steady the decline. The dip is just that,” Liam Bailey, global head of research at Knight Frank said.<\/p>\n “Taking the longer view, the global UHNW population grew by 44% in the five years to 2022 and, although we forecast growth to slow to 28.5% over the next five years, the recent dip will prove short lived as we adapt to a new economic environment.\u201d<\/p>\n The Middle East was the best-performing region with a 16.9% growth in the number of UHNWIs in 2022. The UAE was the fastest-growing country, with an 18.1% increase.<\/p>\n Although the number of UHNWIs dropped in South Africa, the rest of Africa saw a robust performance, with growth of 6.3%.<\/p>\n Australasia and the Americas saw minimal growth of\u00a0 0.7% and 0.2%, respectively<\/p>\n Despite Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore expanding on their UHNWI populations, the total population across Asia dropped by 6.5%.<\/p>\n Europe was the worst hit area, with the total number of UHNWIs declining by 8.5%. However, tax havens Ireland and Monaco saw growth at 3.9% and 0.9%, respectively.<\/p>\n While the overall UHNWI population dropped in 2022, the number of HNWIs increased by 2.9% to almost 70 million worldwide.<\/p>\n However, the number of billionaires dropped by 5% to 2,629 worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n Type of millionaire<\/th>\n 2021<\/th>\n Change<\/th>\n 2022<\/th>\n Change<\/th>\n (proj.) 2027<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n \n HNWI<\/td>\n 36,228<\/td>\n -20.8%<\/span><\/td>\n 28,749<\/td>\n 18.3% <\/span><\/td>\n 34,006<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n UHNWI<\/td>\n 592<\/td>\n -8.4%<\/span><\/td>\n 542<\/td>\n 11.3% <\/span><\/td>\n 603<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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