So, about that recession.

It’s going to be a tough couple of months for many South Africans, now that the GDP has failed, once again, for two successive quarters.

Some South Africans are probably going to come out of this fine, and by some, I mean the dollar millionaires and multi-millionaires knocking around our more affluent areas.

Global property consultancy group Knight Frank has released its 2020 Wealth Report, which gives us some insight into just how many dollar-millionaires and multi-millionaires call South Africa home.

Hint – it’s probably more than you think.

Per BusinessTech:

According to the report, as of December 2019 there are 87,421 dollar millionaires living in South Africa, which is down slightly (-1%) from 2018. This is up 24% from 2014, however, with the group projecting that the number will increase by a further 25% by 2024.

In terms of multi-millionaires – individuals with a net worth over $30 million (around R460 million) – South Africa has also seen a decline, with Knight Frank recording 1,033 individuals at the end of 2019, down from 1,060 the year before.

South Africa has six dollar billionaires, who also feature on Hurun Research Institute’s list of the richest people in the world.

Now that we’ve got the dollar billionaires out of the way, let’s take a step down the ladder to the next highest bracket: South Africans with a net worth of $500 000 (roughly R7,6 million) or higher – all 215 983 of them.

While South Africa is at the top of the pile when it comes to wealth in Africa, other nations are quickly catching up, and may even surpass the country in the future.

Based on Knight Frank’s five-year growth forecast of individuals worth over $500,000, Egyptians in this group are expected to grow by 56% by 2024, putting the country much closer to South Africa (217,247 vs 252,700 individuals, respectively).

Trailing in third is Nigeria, which is projected to have just under 130,000 individuals in this grouping by 2024.

Nigeria is also home to Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote.

Here’s a decent visual representation of how we compare to the rest of Africa:

If you’d like to figure out your net worth, Citadel has a simple calculator tool that you can use.

[source:businesstech]