It's good to be HNWI

Driven by market capitalization growth in emerging economies, the wealth of the world's high net worth individuals (HNWIs) increased 9.4 percent to $40.7 trillion in 2007, according to the 12th annual World Wealth Report from Merrill Lynch and Capgemini (via MarketingCharts).

The number of HNWIs in the world increased 6 percent in 2007 to 10.1 million, the number of ultra high net worth individuals (Ultra-HNWIs) increased 8.8 percent, and for the first time in the average assets held by HNWIs exceeded $4 million (since the Report has been published).

HNWIs are those with net assets of at least $1 million, excluding their primary residence and consumables; Ultra-HNWIs — who number some 103,000 — are those with net assets of at least $30 million, excluding their primary residence and consumables. The highest proportion of Ultra-HNWIs to HNWIs is in Latin America:

The global economy grew 5.1 percent 2007, down slightly from the 5.3 percent global growth in 2006, according to the Report, which forecasts that global HNWI wealth will grow to $59.1 trillion by 2012, advancing at a rate of 7.7 percent per year.

Impressive growth of emerging economies was boosted largely by thriving export sectors and heightened domestic demand. The largest regional growth of the HNWI population occurred in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Latin America, with increases of 15.6 percent, 14.3 percent, and 12.2 percent, respectively; while the largest regional growth in wealth occurred in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa:

The BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) continued to play pivotal roles in the global economy in 2007, driven by impressive economic gains and robust market capitalization growth.

(MarketingCharts offers more findings from the report.)