The rate at which Saudi Arabia’s economy creates millionaires will slow by half in the next five years compared with the previous five, according to new estimates.
The fall in the pace of wealth creation is anticipated partly as a result of low oil prices, with a fifth of Saudi millionaires owing their wealth to oil, according to the research by consultancy WealthInsight. The price of a barrel of Brent crude is currently $55, down from more than $100 just last year.
The consultancy says the expectation of regional instability is another reason to predict slowing growth of new millionaires, defined as individuals with more than $1 million in investable assets, including their primary home.
“The collapse of the oil price is only half of the picture,” says Oliver Williams, head of WealthInsight. “So far, 2015 has seen the kingdom’s stock market make its disappointing debut on the world stage, two wars have been commenced along its borders and there is a new prospect of economic rivalry with Iran.”
In the past five years, the number of dollar millionaires in Saudi Arabia grew by a quarter to nearly 50,000, according to WealthInsight’s research.
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