World wealth reports reveals the growth of super-rich in Brazil
Several annual global wealth reports published in spring 2015 have revealed Brazil’s astonishing growth in wealth.
Knight Frank’s Global Cities Survey, which monitors the cities that matter to the world’s wealthy focusing purely on the population of wealthy residents, reports its survey findings in The Word’s Top 40 Cities publication. On the list of top 40 global cities for 2015, there are two Brazilian metropolises featured, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, ranked at places 31 and 39 respectively. The top four cities in the world are London, remaining the single biggest centre for global UHNWIs (Ultra High Net Worth Individuals), followed by Tokyo, Singapore and New York.
Knight Frank’s data confirms that the number of UHNWIs in São Paulo is 1,344 whilst the number of UHNWIs in Rio de Janeiro is 563. UHNWIs are defined as individuals with a net worth exceeding US$30 million.
Meanwhile, Knight Frank’s Wealth Report 2015 highlights that the recent elections in Brazil have sparked opportunities for more economic growth. It suggests that last year’s election in Brazil, and the ensuing interest rate rise by the country’s central bank, showing its independent authority, could start to prop up the Brazilian economy. Although, there is still much work to be done, including offsetting the falling prices for key Brazilian exports, the growth of Brazil’s UHNWI population over the next decade is expected to outperform the global average, at 50%.
According to the ‘Fly Away’ section of the report, which looks into the most popular private jet routes and assesses their impact on wealth migration and property investment destination using the exclusive NetJets data, there are some interesting new trends. It suggests that while Dubai and the broader UAE are seeing increasing traffic, the Middle East’s position as the world’s third-largest market is being challenged by the rise of traffic in Brazil and China. Indeed, traffic from Brazil to Europe has grown 20% each year since 2010, with the main destinations including France, Spain, Portugal and the UK – reflected by luxury property purchases by Brazilian buyers during 2014.
In fact, the largest commercial property deal made by UHNWIs across the globe was the purchase of one single asset, 30 St Mary Axe, informally known as The Gherkin in the City of London. The ‘Gherkin’ is one of the most distinctive buildings on London’s skyline (built in 2004, occupied by Swiss Re and law firm Kirkland & Ellis), and was purchased by a Brazilian billionaire, Joseph Safra, at a price of $1.15 billion in November 2014. This deal certainly made Brazilian billionaires’ presence known on the global property market scene, evidencing the strength and the purchasing power of the Brazilian super-wealthy.
Furthermore, the global wealth distribution data presented in The Wealth Report 2015 includes historic, current and 10-year predictions for UHNWIs, Centa-millionaire (US$100 million+) and Billionaire populations in almost 100 countries.
In the context of historic trends, Brazil shows extraordinary development over the last 10 years. Between 2004 and 2014, UHNWI population in Brazil grew by astonishing 268%; from 1,148 individuals to 4,218 individuals.
Looking ahead, from 2014 to 2024, the number of UHNWIs is projected to grow by 49%. Centa-millionaire population in Brazil also grew by extraordinarily fast pace, increasing by 262% over the last 10 years; from 170 individuals in 2004 to 616 individuals in 2014. The following 10-year projection to 2024 is that the Centa-millionaire population in Brazil will grow by a further 48%.
And in line with this trend, the Billionaire population in Brazil grew also remarkably, with a 267% increase over the last 10 years; from 12 individuals in 2004 to 44 in 2014. The following 10-years to 2024 are projected to see a the Billionaire population rise by 48%. Looking into the current trends from 2013 to 2014, and defying the economic challenges in the country, Brazil saw an increase of 2% across all super-wealthy populations, UHNWIs, Centa-millionaires and Billionaires.
Elsewhere, the New World Wealth March 2015 report, which tracks the fastest growing cities for the super-rich (a multi-millionaire here is defined as an individual with net assets of at least US$10 million), highlights that across the whole South America, the two cities with highest growth of multi-millionaires are São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
São Paulo saw an astonishing growth of 296% in the number of multi-millionaires from 2004 to 2014 (an increase from 1,120 to 4,430 individuals), whilst Rio de Janeiro saw a 251% increase in the multi-millionaire population during the same period (from 630 to 2210 multi-millionaires).
Finally the latest Sunday Times Rich list 2015, which ranks the 100 richest people in the world shows that Brazilians take three places. In place 28 is Jorge Paulo Lemann, with wealth at £17.6 billion; at 40th place are the Marinho brothers with a wealth value of £14.6 billion and at 83rd position are Joseph and Moise Safra, with a wealth value at £9.7 billion.
Forbes’ list of 2015 billionaires is far more extensive going up thousands in ranking, however, looking into the first 512 biggest billionaires in the world, 11 originate from Brazil.
For more information on the rise of the super-rich in Brazil and Ritz-G5’s range of luxury developments perfect for this market, contact the team on +44 207 183 7565 or visit www.ritz-G5.com.
