The rich did get richer last year

1% owned 35% of world’s wealth

NEW YORK: Even as world financial markets broke down last year, personal wealth around the world grew 5% to $109.5 trillion, according to a report released on Thursday by Boston Consulting Group.

It was the sixth consecutive year of expanding wealth. The fastest growth was among households in developing regions, such as China and the Gulf States and among families who were already rich.

That wealth also is increasingly concentrated among the richest. The top 1% of all households owned 35% of the world’s wealth last year. Meanwhile, the top 0.001%, ultra-rich households holding at least $5 million in assets, commanded $21 trillion -- a fifth of the world’s wealth.

Wealth is growing at much faster rates among the rest of the world. Households in Asia, the Pacific Rim excluding Japan and Latin America saw the greatest growth, with wealth rising 14%. That growth was fuelled by manufacturing in Asia and commodities in Latin America and the Middle East, as well as more currency and political stability.