ZURICH: Britain lost $1.5 trillion (1.4 trillion euros) in household wealth in 2016, a blow caused by the pound’s free-fall after the Brexit vote, Switzerland’s second largest bank Credit Suisse said Tuesday.
A full 406,000 Britons lost their status as dollar millionaires this year, Credit Suisse added in its latest annual Global Wealth Report.
“The United Kingdom had a tumultuous year,” the report said, describing the household wealth losses as “a direct consequence of the Brexit vote.”
“Wealth per adult has already dropped by $33,000 to $289,000 since the end of June,” chief investment officer at the bank’s wealth management division, Michael O’Sullivan, added in a statement.
While individual wealth in dollar terms took a hit following Britain’s June vote to leave the European Union, the trend has been downward since the 2007-2008 financial crisis, the report explained.
“Wealth per adult is 11 percent below the 2007 figure,” Credit Suisse said.
The report warned that Britain faces an “outlook that is very uncertain, both for the economy and for household wealth.”
Britain however is still home to 2.2 million dollar millionaires, nearly seven percent of the world’s total number of millionaires, according to Credit Suisse.
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