Riyadh, Jeddah among world’s 40 fastest-growing high net worth cities

Saudi cities Riyadh and Jeddah have been ranked among the world’s top 40 fastest-growing high net worth (HNW) cities between 2018 to 2033, according to a report by global wealth intelligence and insight provider Wealth-X.

Riyadh and Jeddah are expected to achieve 10 percent and 9 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth in the next five years in its HNW population, respectively, Wealth-X report added.

It said the Saudi stock market is expected to grow by 2.3 percent during the same period, and the Saudi Riyal exchange against the US Dollar is forecast to be very stable in the next five years.

Among the rest of these 40 cities, 32 are in China, 3 in India and 1 each in the UAE, Philippines and Malaysia.

Globally, New York is home to the most HNW individuals. While New York saw its HNW population shrink by 0.6 percent in 2018, with just below a million HNW individuals, the Big Apple still retains a HNW population that is 65 percent larger than the second city in Wealth-X’s top 10, Tokyo. In addition, six of the top 10 cities in its ranking are in the US.

The Asia-Pacific region is forecast to experience the strongest growth in the number of HNW individuals and combined wealth, with the region’s HNW population projected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 7.6 percent over the next five years, Wealth-X report added.

Overall, the top 10 countries accounted for 75.2 percent of the global HNW population and 73.8 percent of total HNW wealth in 2018 — a fraction higher than a year earlier.