More with millions, millions in misery

Despite misery for most in the Europe, the region saw the number of dollar millionaires rise by 7.5% in 2012 to reach 3.41 million.

The figures, from the 2013 World Wealth Report (WWR) by Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management put Germany in the lead (and third worldwide), followed by the UK (fifth globally), France, Switzerland and Italy.

Germany now has 1,015,000 millionaires, Britain 465,000, France 430,000, Switzerland 282,000 and Italy 176,000.

The wealth measured in the report excludes personal assets and property such as main residences, collectibles, consumable goods, and consumer durables.

The ‘investable’ wealth of Europe’s ‘high net worth individuals’ (HNWIs) expanded by 8.2% to $10.9 trillion.

Worldwide population and aggregate investable wealth reached record levels. HNWI population increased by 9.2% to reach 12.0 million, after remaining flat in 2011. Total investable wealth increased 10.0% to $46.2 trillion.

The richest millionaires did particularly well. Those with $5 million or more in assets pushed up the overall investable wealth globally. So did those with $30 million or more, or ‘ultra’ HNWIs. They increased in number and wealth by 11.0% in 2012.

Representing less than 1% of the global HNWI population, the world’s 111,000 ‘ultra’ rich control more than one-third (35.2%) of HNWI wealth.

The more than 4,400 HNWIs in 21 countries across five regions surveyed were confident of getting even richer in the future.

These figures underline how the very wealthy are having a jolly good crisis.

As for the rest of society, household wealth fell 14% in Europe the year to June 2012, while wages rose by just 1.2% last year, with purchasing power – that is, after cost of living is taken into account – falling by 1.2%.