UK millionaires set to rise 60%

Last Modified: 11 May 2008
Source: ITN

The number of millionaire households in the UK is predicted to rise by 60 per cent to more than 2.4 million within the next ten years, according to a new study.

Britain's richest are expected to have a combined wealth of more than £6.9 trillion by 2017, with the number of households with a fortune of £5 million due to increase by 120 per cent to 126,000, the Household Wealth Index revealed.

The study, developed by Barclays Wealth and the Economist Intelligence Unit, forecasts that the current rise in the number of millionaire households - up from 1.5 million in 2007 - will see the UK have the seventh highest concentration of wealth in the world.

But the experts behind the study said that this could leave the UK vulnerable to a shock from an economic downturn.

Michael Dicks, head of research and investment strategy at Barclays Wealth, said: "The UK will continue to outperform Europe and remain a significant centre for wealth generation over the next decade.

"We believe that any financial downturn would have a greater short-term impact on wealth creation in the UK than in other European countries, which do not have the concentration of financial services activity seen in London."

America is set to retain its global status as the world's richest nation, the study predicts, although it suggests that emerging markets, such as China and India, will significantly close the gap with the US by 2017.

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