Number of UK millionaires halves during the recession

The number of millionaires in Britain has more than halved in the past two years, new figures reveal.

A report by the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) estimates that there are now 242,000 millionaires in the UK – down from 489,000 in 2007.

It blamed the decline on the collapse in the housing market, falls in the value of shares and this year’s 70% reduction in City bonuses.

Outlining its findings, the CEBR said a large proportion of the super-wealthy only marginally surpassed the coveted ‘millionaire’ threshold from 2003 to 2007, largely due to soaring property prices.

‘Having just crept over the threshold, most of these people have crept back under it again – many perhaps without ever knowing that they had become millionaires for a temporary period,’ commented Douglas McWilliams, chief executive of CEBR.

However, the group predicts that the number of UK millionaires will begin to rise again in 2011 when the housing market recovers.