The latest Knight Frank Wealth Report 2024 shows that South Africa has lost 11 ultra-high-net-worth individuals in the last year while thousands more millionaires have been lost over the last decade.

The 2024 instalment of the report is based on responses provided during December 2023 by more than 600 private bankers, wealth advisors, intermediaries and family offices who, between them, manage over $3 trillion (R57 trillion) of wealth for Ultra-high-net-worth individual (UHNWI) clients.

An ultra-high-net-worth individual is defined by Knight Frank as someone with a net worth of $30 million (approx. R570 million) or more.

According to the report, the number of UHNWIs globally rose 4.2% to 626,619 from 601,300 a year earlier, more than reversing the declines seen in 2022.

At a regional level, wealth creation was led by North America (+7.2%) and the Middle East (+6.2%), with Latin America being the only region to see its population of wealthy individuals decline.

Compared to 2022, Africa realised a 3.8% rise in the number of super-rich people, recording 2,996 UHNWIs in 2023 in contrast to the 2,886 noted in the previous year.

South Africa’s super-rich