Follow Spanish investment immigration and stay updated on the Spanish economy: According to the latest Global Wealth Report released by Credit Suisse on Wednesday, despite Spain being mired in its longest economic recession in half a century, the number of millionaires in Spain grew by 13% to 402,000 between June of last year and June of this year.
The good fortune of these emerging wealthy individuals stands in stark contrast to the six million unemployed and those who have suffered salary cuts due to government austerity measures. Credit Suisse attributes the growth in the number of millionaires in Spain and other Eurozone countries to the recovery of the stock market and favorable Euro-to-Dollar exchange rates, gains sufficient to offset the decline in housing prices.
In absolute terms, the number of Spaniards with wealth exceeding one million dollars increased by 47,000 over the past year, one of the highest increases among developed countries, ranking 8th globally. The United States saw the highest growth, followed by France and Germany. Conversely, Japan, Brazil, Russia, and Egypt were among the countries that saw a significant decrease in the number of millionaires.
"It seems strange that the Eurozone added so many new millionaires last year, especially France (up 287,000), Germany (up 221,000), Italy (up 127,000), Spain (up 47,000), and Belgium (up 38,000), but this only partially compensates for the significant decline in millionaires from a year ago," the Credit Suisse report stated.