Qatar is now home to the world’s highest percentage of millionaires, with nearly 50,000 households holding private wealth of at least $1 million, a new report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has found.

That’s 143 millionaire households out of every 1,000, far higher than Switzerland, which took the second spot with 116 millionaire households per 1,000. Kuwait (115) came in third, and was followed by Hong Kong (94) and Singapore (82), the Global Wealth 2013 index states.

Last year, BCG ranked Qatar as second in terms of millionaire density. At the time, Singapore was on top, with 170 millionaire households per 1,000.

Concentrated wealth

The findings come on the heels of a Middle East Wealth Report which states that the GCC is home to over 100,000 millionaires.

Among them are some 4,160 individuals from Qatar, states the study, which was issued by the Qatar Financial Centre and Campden Research.

An additional 290 individuals living here are classified as ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW), with investable assets of more than $30 million. Most of their wealth is concentrated within family-operated businesses, the index added.

BCG calculated its index a bit differently, but ranked Qatar fourth in the world by UHNW households (with more than $100 million in private wealth). Some eight out of 100,000 households fell under this category.

Overall, wealthy individuals in the MENA region saw a 9.1 jump in the value of their assets, to the tune of $4.8 trillion in 2012, BCG found. It added that if current trends continue, the region’s wealth could rise to some $6.5 trillion by 2017.

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Credit: Photo by 401(k) 2013