The Middle East's billionaire population continued to rise last year, but those residing in Saudi Arabia took a hit to their income as the government rounded up key business and political figures in a crackdown on alleged corruption, according to a new report.

The annual Billionaire Census produced by research consultancy Wealth-X found that the number of billionaires in the Middle East and North Africa grew to 189 (up 11.9 percent) in 2017, and that the wealth these individuals possess also grew by 2.1 percent to $474 billion.

Both the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia were among the top 10 nations for billionaire populations last year (joint ninth, with 62 billionaires each), and Dubai was one of the world's top cities where billionaires reside (ranked 8th, above Mumbai but below Singapore). However, while the combined wealth of those in the UAE grew by 4.3 percent, Saudi billionaires' wealth declined by 4.4 percent.

Wealth-X said that "while economics may largely trump geopolitics at a global level when examining the impact on billionaire wealth, political developments at a localized level can still have a notable effect on a country’s billionaire population and the conditions for wealth preservation", citing the kingdom's rounding-up of more than 200 individuals as an example.

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"Most were subsequently released after reaching financial settlements with the authorities that included asset confiscation. Not surprisingly, the latest estimate of combined billionaire wealth in the country took a tumble in 2017," it added.

Yet despite the decline in the combined wealth of Saudi billionaires, their number actually increased by 8.8 percent last year.

In an emailed response to questions from Zawya, a spokesman said that the reason for this was the slight recovery in oil prices during the course of 2017.

"One reason for this could be that there were a number of wealthy individuals who dipped out of the billionaire club in the previous year due to oil price depression and, given the slight recovery, gained billionaire status again this year at the lowest tier of billionaire wealth," the spokesman said.

On a global level, the report stated that due to the substantial growth in both the billionaire population (up 29 percent) and the wealth that they posses (up 49 percent) in the Asia region, there are now more billionaires on the continent (784) than there is in North America (727).

This growth was led by new billionaires being created in Hong Kong, China and India. Wealth-X's survey said there were 104 billionaires in India by the end of 2017 - a 22.4 increase on the prior year. India is now only surpassed in the ranking of countries with the most billionaires by Germany (152), China (338) and the United States (680). The spokesman attributed this growth to "strong expansion of the country’s economy, reforms to the business environment, and the positive development of asset markets".

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Wealth-X is a United States-based consultancy which opened a Middle East office in Dubai last month. The company also has an office in London.

A GCC Wealth Insight Report published last month by Emirates Investment Bank found that although sentiment about the Gulf's economic prospects is generally improving among the region's high net-worth individuals (defined as people with $2 million or more of investible assets), opinions varied from country to country.

UAE residents were among the most optimistic, with 57 percent stating that they expected the economic situation in their country to improve this year, and only 11 percent expected it to worsen. Saudi-based respondents were much more pessimistic, with only 19 percent expecting an improvement, and 52 percent expecting the economy to worsen.

(Reporting by Michael Fahy; Editing by Shane McGinley)

(michael.fahy@thomsonreuters.com)

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