Time to network: UK has 600,000 'millionaire households'

There are close to 600,000 'millionaire households' in the UK, according to the latest estimates, but, as a share of total households, Britain lags Ireland, Kuwait and Taiwan.

The UK has some 570,000 millionaire households, the fourth-highest number in Boston Consulting Group's (BCG) survey, after the US, Japan, and China.

However, as a share of total households in the country, at 2.2% the UK ranks 15th.

BCG assessed the 20 countries with the highest proportion of millionaires. It measured assets including cash deposits, money market funds, listed securities held directly or indirectly through managed investments, and onshore and offshore assets.

The small island of Singapore, with only five million residents, came top of the list, with almost one in six households boasting $1m or more in assets.

Almost 10% of households in Switzerland met the criteria, putting it second ahead of Qatar, Hong Kong and Kuwait, with 8.9%, 8.6% and 8.5% respectively.

Ireland came 13th on the BCG list, with 30,000 millionaire households, 2.3% of the total.

BCG said global wealth grew in nearly every region in the world last year. The fastest, at 17.1%, came in the Asia Pacific (ex Japan) region, followed by North America at 10.2%.

Global assets under management grew 8% to $121.8trn, about $20trn above the level during the depths of the global financial crisis.

The number of millionaire households grew 12.2% to 12.5 million. Although they represented only 0.9% of all households, they held 39% of global wealth.

For the full list and a further breakdown, click HERE.