Russia shows highest increase in number of dollar millionaires

Russia's millionaire club is on the expansion. The number of dollar millionaires in Russia exceeded 100,000 in 2006 – up by 15.5 percent over 2005, according to the 11^th annual World Wealth Report, released last week by U.S. investment management company Merrill Lynch and Capgemini, a provider of consulting, technology and outsourcing services.

Photo: Russia shows highest increase in number of dollar millionaires

Russia shows highest increase in number of dollar millionaires

The Russian Federation is ranked among the world’s top ten countries which showed the highest increase in the number of dollar millionaires. In terms of the largest growth of its dollar millionaires or high net worth individuals (HNWIs), Russia is second to India, where the number of HNWIs grew by 20 percent in 2006.

The year 2005 saw a stronger cash flow to cross-border investment. In 2006, a new era began as the world’s emerging economies took the lead, driven by direct investments, a greater demand on the domestic market and significant profits of stock markets, says the report.

There were 94,970 multi-millionaires or ultra high net worth individuals (Ultra-HNWIs) in the world by the end of 2006. The number grew by 11.3 percent to the previous year. A multi-millionaire is an individual with net assets exceeding $30 million.

The number of the world’s HNWIs grew by 8.3 percent to 9.5 million in 2006. The wealth of the world’s richest people increased 11.2 percent to $37.2 trillion in 2006. A mere 1 percent ($285 billion) of the above sum was spent by the world’s rich and super rich on charity.

According to the 11^th annual World Wealth Report by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini, “the world’s number of millionaires grew by 6.4 percent in 2006, the highest increase in seven years.” The United States still has the largest HNWI population. Germany and Japan have the second and third-place rankings in the number of HNWIs found there.

Forbes publishes list of Russia’s top hundred moneybags

Forbes magazine recently published its list of Russia’s wealthiest people. According to Forbes, accumulated assets of Russia’s 100 richest entrepreneurs amount to $337 billion. The “poorest” entry on the Russian Top Hundred stands for $660 million.

The 2007 budgeted expenditure of the Russian Federation totals $211 billion. In other words, the size of accumulated assets owned by one hundred wealthiest Russians is nearly 1.5 times larger than that of the Russian federal budget expenditure.

Arguments and Fact

Translated by Guerman Grachev
Pravda.ru