The total wealth of French high net worth individuals is projected to grow by 12.2 per cent, at a compound annual growth rate of 2.9 per cent to hit nearly $2.2 trillion in 2015, new research from WealthInsight shows.

The report, High Net Worth Trends in France to 2015, analyses the volume and wealth of French HNW individuals, drawing on demographic trends between 2007 and 2011, as well as findings from WealthInsight’s HNW individual database.

As well as a hike in wealth, the findings from the report suggest that HNW individual volumes will see a more modest percentage increase of 9.1 per cent, at a compound annual growth rate of 2.2 per cent to reach just over 606,000 individuals in 2015. However, it acknowledges that “notably, this is below the level of 637,000 reached at the end of 2007”.

According to 2011 data, there are just over 555,000 HNW individuals in France, with a combined wealth of around $2 trillion - a figure which accounts for about 16 per cent of France’s aggregate wealth.

The 2015 forecast comes despite the fact that the number of HNW individuals in France actually declined by 12.8 per cent between 2007 and 2011, with HNW wealth simultaneously dropping by 16.4 per cent.

However, figures from the World Wealth Report 2012 show that the number of HNW individuals in France crept up from 396,000 in 2010 to 404,000 last year. In 2010, the country ranked sixth globally in terms of HNW population.