Kuwait also has the seventh highest number of families with net fortune more than $100 million, which means about 990 families are worth $ 100 million, reports Al-Qabas daily quoting informed sources.
According to a report issued by the Boston Consultancy Group on countries’ fortunes, the personal wealth of individuals and families in the Middle East has increased by 11.6 percent reaching $5.2 trillion last year despite the ongoing tensions in the region.
They explained that Qatar came first in category of highest number of wealthy families among the GCC countries with 17.5 percent followed by Kuwait with 9 percent, Bahrain with 5.9 percent, Oman with 3.7 percent, the United Arab Emirates with 3.3 percent and Saudi Arabia with 3.1 percent. Qatar also topped the international list of highest number of wealthy families while Kuwait was placed fifth, Bahrain sixth, Oman tenth, UAE 12th and Saudi Arabia 13th.
They explained that the main reason for such an increase is the continuous strong growth of GDP of oil-rich countries such as Saudi Arabia which experienced increase of wealthy individuals by 13.4 percent, Kuwait with 13.6 percent and UAE with 12.8 percent.
Out of the 99,000 Kuwaiti millionaire families, I wonder how many have been up to Sulaibiya and/or have ever helped a bedoon child, woman, or man? It sad that Kuwait still can't assist those (even with better schools/education for stateless/no-nationality children living in a shanty town) and yet send so much charity overseas.
ReplyDeleteYeah I know what you mean, when I first came to Kuwait I would be out in Salmiya, someone would ask where I lived, when I said Fintas they looked in shock, like I lived in another country, of course now the area is used for the fufu girls to hide with their bf from their families knowing they won't step foot in that hideous area lol. Some people have never been to Jahra either, my mom, sis and I used to work out there OMG imagine that lol Can you believe there are Kuwaiti families (obviously faw away from those 99000) that barely make it day by day, yet these rich, who also control the rules wouldn't know that. Do they know what it's like to sleep on a dirty floor in a government hospital while your child is put into an incubator that is from the middle ages? Oh no! They go to London and other posh areas for treatment. I could say so many things on this article!
ReplyDeleteMost millionaire families are from merchant families that were wealthy before oil. They're called the ''Asil'' merchants.
ReplyDeleteThey do deserve their wealth because they were rich before oil
Those families of course earned their wealth and maintained it. I know that those kinds of family usually marry within or with other leading families as to keep their money within. They should be respected, it's the other people who have not earned their money in a reputable way that I'm talking about. The 'new' wealthy people who had nothing and all of a sudden became rich, they act different and brag more.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comments.. lots of people are just born into a rich family, a silver spoon in their mouth and are not as hard working at their parents.
ReplyDeleteit is also very bad that Kuwait and other parts of the Gulf have a lot of bedoon folks around. Only very recently, is something being done to address this.