Qatar ranks third in highest density of millionaires

Qatar has the world's third-highest density of millionaires with 116 of every 1,000 households holding over $1m in private wealth, according to The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

The BCG's 'Global Wealth 2015: Winning the Growth Game' report released yesterday noted the highest density of millionaires in the world was in Switzerland, followed by Bahrain and Qatar.

Last year, in Qatar, 86 of every 1,000 households had private wealth above $100m.

And in 2013, Qatar ranked No. 1 in the world by proportion of millionaire households. Based on BCG's study, private wealth in Qatar grew by 6.5 percent last year, driven mainly by equities.

Between 2013 and 2014, wealth held in equities rose by 10.9 percent compared with 4.6 percent for bonds and 3.9 percent for cash and deposits. The peninsula

Qatar is poised for further growth (9.6 percent) in the next five years, with wealth breakdown anticipated to be 44 percent in cash and deposits, 9 in bonds and 47 in equities.

In Qatar, the upper high net-worth (HNW) segment (those with between $20m and $100m) grew by 9.3 percent in 2014.

With a projected CAGR of 9 percent over the next five years, this segment is expected to see continued growth, triggered by a large number of new households entering it and growth in average wealth per household.

Private wealth of the lower HNW segment (those with between $1m and $20m) was up 7.2 percent in 2014 and is forecast to grow by 11.6 percent over the next five years.

"The total number of millionaire households (those with over $1m in private wealth) in Qatar increased by 3.7 percent last year," said Markus Massi, a Partner and Managing Director, BCG, Middle East. [Read more on The Peninsula]

Check out the full report on BCG | Photo for illustration only (PC: Viju jose)