Asia to Add 5,000 New Centimillionaires Over Next Decade [Chart]

The Chart of the Week is a weekly Visual Capitalist feature on Fridays.

Where in the world should a speculator go to make it big?

Back in the old days, the plan was to follow the gold rushes. Your travels may have taken you to California, Colorado, or maybe even the Klondike.

Today, the places to go are arguably the emerging markets, or as we recently detailed: the “emerging” emerging markets. Doug Casey, the famous speculator and best-selling author, is a fan of this strategy. He has routinely said that if he were a young man, he’d look at going to Africa rather than going to college.

The data reinforces this notion. In today’s chart, we summarize some of the findings of Knight Frank’s Wealth Report 2015, which looks at how many millionaires, centimillionaires, and billionaires will be made in different regions over the next decade. All of this is based on how many assets are accumulated by an individual. To be counted as a centimillionaire, one would need over $100 million in assets.

In our mind, there are three major takeaways from today’s chart:

First, the growth rate for these elite groups of wealthy people are the lowest in Western countries. For example, regions like North America, Europe, and Australasia will all add new centimillionaires to their ranks at about a 25% clip over the next decade. In these areas, most of the big opportunities have been taken advantage of, and the economic growth rates of advanced economies are lower.

Next, Asia leads in every category in absolute terms for adding new millionaires, centimillionaires, and billionaires. The region is projected to add 342 new billionaires at a 70% growth rate over the next decade, which is more than North America, Europe, Australasia, and Latin America combined. Also astounding is the fact that there will be 5,169 individuals that accumulate over $100 million in assets in Asia over the next 10 years. In contrast, North America will add 3,079 at less than half of the growth rate (25%).

Lastly, while the absolute numbers of Asia are stunning in sheer size, it is the relative numbers that in Africa that also catch our eye. Africa will add millionaires at the highest clip of all regions in the next decade at a 53% growth rate. This speaks more to Doug’s point, which is that Africa’s growth is just beginning.

For those that are willing to take the risk and get in on the ground floor, it could pay off.