Posted by Leonard Steinberg on March 6th, 2013

For anyone wondering about the longterm future of wealth in the world and especially New York, here are some facts to ponder:

• Over the next 10 years, New York will see a rise of 36% of High Net Worth Individuals, those with assets above $ 30million……does that mean we need to build at least 3,000 new luxury apartments over the next decade?
• The number of people with $30m or more in net assets (referred to throughout this report as HNWIs) rose by 5% in 2012, or nearly 8,700.
• The combined wealth held by HNWI’s also grew by 2%, or $566bn, to just over $26 trillion in 2012.
• Over the next 10 years, 95,000 people are forecast to break the $30m wealth barrier – a cumulative 50% rise, which will take the total number of HNWIs across the globe to around 285,665.
• China is grappling with  a “double whammy” of weaker exports and sluggish domestic demand: it is still expected to continue outperforming its rivals, overtaking the US as the world’s largest economy by the end of this decade, based on figures from the Economist Intelligence Unit.
• Wealth creation in China – and wider Asia – will continue, according to Wealth-X, with China’s ultra-wealthy population more than doubling by 2022. Indonesia is also expected to experience a relative boom over the next decade, albeit from a low base. HNWIs are tipped to climb by more than 400% to 5,161 by 2022.
• The number of HNWI’s in India is expected to more than double over the next 10 years, rising by 137% in Mumbai alone. This will give India – along with China and Japan – the highest number of HNWIs in Asia by 2022.
• North America will still have some 30% of the world’s HNWI’s in 2022, although this is down from the current 34%.
• Within the US, the biggest rise in the concentration of HNWI’s is expected to be outside New York, despite its status as the world’s pre-eminent global city. Wealth-X’s survey of HNWI populations in the world’s leading cities shows that Houston, San Francisco and Dallas will see the most significant rise in HNWIs in the US over the next 10 years. New York will still boast the largest number of HNWI’s of any city in the world in 2022.
• If you thought this week’s FORBES list of billionaires was staggering, that list should come close to DOUBLING over the next 10 years.
• HNWI’s across the globe remain concerned about the possible impact of punitive tax policies. France plans to hit high earners with a tax rate of up to 75%, while countries including Spain and Ireland have also imposed wealth or property taxes. Real estate taxes in many part of the USA are becoming absurd, especially in New York.
• The economic crisis may have put the brakes on global wealth creation to some extent. But it is clear that the appetite to build wealth, particularly in ambitious, rapidly developing nations, remains as strong as ever.