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11 Dec, 2013

FREE Download: Middle East’s 157 Billionaires Dominate Region’s Wealth

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SINGAPORE, Dec. 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — The Middle East’s billionaires – with a combined net worth of US$354 billion – hold a higher percentage of total wealth than in any other region in the world, findings from the Wealth-X and UBS Billionaire Census 2013 show.

Forty percent of the Middle East’s ultra high net worth (UHNW) wealth is being held by the region’s 157 billionaires, compared to 28 percent in Europe, 22 percent in North America and 18 percent in Asia.

Billionaires in Saudi Arabia control more than 70 percent of the country’s wealth, while their counterparts in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) hold 24 percent.

Saudi Arabia leads the region with the most billionaires (64), and 25 of these individuals are based in the country’s capital, Riyadh.

The total wealth of Saudi billionaires (US$204 billion) is more than half the combined net worth of their counterparts in the Middle East, according to data from the Wealth-X and UBS Billionaire Census 2013, the first-ever global study on the billionaire population.

The report shows that there are 157 billionaires among the 5,300 UHNW individuals (defined as those with net assets of US$30 million and above) in the Middle East. This makes the Middle East the region with the fourth most billionaires – after Europe (766), North America (552) and Asia (508), but ahead of Latin America (111), Africa (42) and Oceania (34). Middle Eastern billionaires increased their wealth in the last year by US$39 billion (12.4 percent) with five additional billionaires (3.3 percent).

Download the Wealth-X and UBS Billionaire Census 2013 (Registration required)