The geographical center of the world’s wealth has moved east over the past 15 years, going from an area near Nova Scotia, Canada, to the Strait of Sicily, near the coast of Tunisia, according to a new report.
In 2005, if all the world’s millionaires stood on a flat, horizontal map like stacks of coins on a tray, the balancing point would have been in the north Atlantic Ocean, according to “Decades of Wealth,” a report from global wealth intelligence firm Wealth-X.
The rise of emerging markets in Asia, combined with the impacts of the global financial crises in North America and Europe between 2005 and 2010, has pushed that center of gravity closer to Asia, said Marc Cohen, Wealth-X’s regional managing director for Europe.
“This study reveals how the recentering of economic gravity has accelerated since 1990, particularly during the last 10 years when the pace increased over 900 percent,” Cohen said. “The reason is the urbanization in developing countries and the explosive growth of the middle class and its impact on wealth creation, particularly in China and India. We expect this wealth cycle to last several generations and displace the center further east.”
Wealth-X says that the continued rise of wealth in South America and Africa has pulled the balance southward.
The fastest growing high-net-worth markets in 2014, measured by increase in millionaires over the past decade, were Chile, Jordan, Nigeria, Kenya, China, India, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, according to the report.
Wealth-X reports that the geographic shift of high-net-worth individuals may move the global financial hubs from New York and London to cities such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai.
