Abu Dhabi, Beirut and Dubai will see the fastest growth in the population of ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWI) over the next decade, according to real estate consultancy Knight Frank's The World Wealth Report.
The consultancy considers any individual with a net worth of USD 30 million as an UNHWI.
Abu Dhabi will see a 29% jump in UNHWI from 161 to 207, while Beirut will see a 28% jump with 169 rich individuals by 2023. The city of Dubai will see 461 wealthy individuals - a slower growth of 25% compared to other two Middle East cities.
Other cities such as Riyadh, Jeddah, Doha and Cairo were not featured in the table. However, Knight Frank considers Istanbul as part of the Middle East and sees the Turkish city to be home to the fastest growing UNHWI population in the region.
Still, it is Dubai that is considered the seventh most vibrant city in the world by 2024, according to the survey.
"The Middle East top five includes Istanbul and Abu Dhabi, two centers from our 'hotspots' list - cities that are set to rapidly increase their influence on UHNWI -close behind Dubai in prime position." 
One legacy of the Arab Spring is the enhanced status of Turkey as a safe haven location for investors from the Gulf and North Africa, which adds to the country's strong economic growth rate and has propelled Istanbul higher in Knight Frank's rankings.
Despite Istanbul's proximity to Europe, it is Dubai that sits at the economic crossroads of Asia-Pacific, Europe and Africa.
"A lot of capital flows through Dubai and into other commercial property markets. Some comes from the wider Gulf area, but it also comes out of Africa, central Asia, and the Indian sub-continent,' said Joseph Morris, investment director for Knight Frank. "In part, this is due to Dubai's connectivity and location. It also has the people and structures in place to provide the necessary investment advice."
MIDDLE EAST MILLIONAIRES
Overall, the Middle East will remain a magnet for wealth creation despite its political troubles, adding nearly 2,500 newly minted UNHWI's to the region and becoming home to almost 9,500 extremely rich individuals. The region's UNHWI population will grow at a rate of 35%, compared to the global average of 28%.
The region will also add just over 500 centa-millionaires - individuals with net worth of more than USD 100 million - at a rate of 36% over the decade, a higher rate than the 31% global average.
The Middle East will also likely feature 36 new billionaires by 2023, compared to the 108 tallied last year, Knight Frank estimates. Forbes' latest rich list suggests the region has only 36 billionaires.
"The number of ultra-wealthy individuals across the globe rose by 3% last year, despite continued economic turbulence and uncertainty in many countries," Knight Frank analysts said in the report.
This means that nearly 5,000 people joined the ranks of UHNWIs in 2013, taking the number of individuals with USD 30 million or more in net assets to over 167,000 worldwide, according to The Wealth Report data.
"The number of UHNWIs across the world has ballooned by 59% since 2003, more than doubling in the Middle East, Latin America, Australasia and Africa."
RISE OF AFRICA
While the global economy will produce wealthy individuals at a rapid pace, the growth rate will be most pronounced in Africa.
The number of Africans with USD 30 million in assets is set to grow by 53% to 2,858 by 2023, far outstripping the average pace of growth across the rest of the world. The number of centa-millionaires is set to rise by 51%, and by 2023 there will be 38 billionaires based on the continent.
"Africa's potential for wealth creation should not be underestimated, given the amount of foreign investment, including social investment, it has received and is likely to receive in the future."
The economic outlook is also positive, with faster growth forecast for sub-Saharan Africa than for most developed countries. But Ouliana Vlasova, chief analyst at WealthInsight, says infrastructure must be in place before significant wealth creation can flow from an expanding economy.
At the continental level, Johannesburg tops the African list, followed by Cape Town. Outside of South Africa, the continent's key wealth hubs include Cairo, Lagos and Nairobi.
GLOBAL WEALTH
Globally, the United States will remain to have the largest number of high net worth individuals with their numbers rising 21% in the decade to reach nearly 48,000.
Japan will be second with a 15% growth and other developed countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland and Italy will also remain home to the largest number of UNHWIs and billionaires.
However, emerging economies will see the greatest growth in wealth creation. Indonesia will emerge as an absolute stalwart with the highest growth in billionaire population, albeit from a low base. India, China, Ukraine (assuming it is not scarred by the events of the past few months), Philippines, Chile, Singapore, Thailand, Brazil and Russia - in that order - will emerge as home to the fastest growing billionaire population in the next decade.
Globally, the report forecasts that the ranks of the ultrawealthy will grow by 28% in the coming decade, reaching around 215,000 by 2023.
"This is a slower pace of growth than over the past 10 years, although much faster than the 8% growth seen between 2007 and 2013. The number of billionaires is expected to rise to 2,315 by 2023 - a 148% increase on the number in 2003," Knight Frank concluded.
The feature was produced by www.alifarabia.com exclusively for www.zawya.com.
© Zawya 2014
